Matter of Succession
by RadioRegicide
Summary: When the war with Phantom Lord takes a dark turn, Makarov falls in battle and Fairy Tail is left on the brink after their pyrrhic victory. In the aftermath Laxus and Erza face off for control of the guild whilst everyone must learn how to find their way in the world without Makarov. Will the pressure prove to great or will Makarov's teachings guide them through their darkest hour?
1. An Oath of Devotion

I swear this was not intentional, this idea just wouldn't go away so here it is. Oh, and mandatory I don't own Fairy Tail, durr.

* * *

 **Matter of Succession**

* * *

 **I**

* * *

 _An Oath of Devotion_

* * *

 **Erza Scarlet**

 **August 17** **th** **, X784**

The late morning sky was overcast with many a sickly-looking grey clouds and the sun was lukewarm at best but at least reconstruction of the Fairy Tail guild hall was finally underway. Although the guild war with Phantom Lord had been brief it had by no means been pretty: the guild hall had been reduced to rubble and many of the guild had been injured. Both Natsu and Lucy were still confined to beds for the most part and Erza herself was only walking with the use of a crutch and had one arm in a sling.

Erza's wounds were the least of her problems though as ever since the end of the war with Phantom Lord several days prior Magnolia had be host to an over abundances of the Magic Council's officials. In the end both Fairy Tail and Phantom Lord wizards that were around when the Magic Council had arrived were rounded up for questioning. It was a sorry state for two of the oldest and most influential guilds in the country to be in. Phantom Lord's former guild master Jose Porla had been dragged away in chains the previous evening after much deliberation had seen the blame for the entire incident fall on his shoulders. Phantom Lord had been forcefully disbanded by the Magic Council as a result of the ruling and though they were allowed to remain active, Fairy Tail was hardly in a position to claim any real victory.

Although Jose had been arrested, three of the Element Four had escaped capture and Black Steel Gajeel, after pummeling Natsu almost to the point of being unrecognisable, had also vanished. What's more, some of Fairy Tail's members had chosen to leave the guild after the Magic Council had cleared them of any major wrong doing on this occasion. Most of them had been fearful that what remained of Phantom Lord's elite would come looking to finish what they had started whilst others had simply been injured to the point where remaining an active wizard would be detrimental to their long term health.

What's more, Master Makarov had fallen in battle.

Despite having had much of his magic drained away from him in an ambush when Fairy Tail had assaulted Phantom Lord's base of operations in Oak Town he had still come to their aid at the last moment. In his crippled state he had ended the war with the a single use of a spell known as _Fairy Law_. The strain the spell had left on his already weakened body had caused his heart to give out shortly thereafter.

In all of the mess, and confusion, and questions that the Magic Council had thrown at them, the remaining members of Fairy Tail had not even had time to bury their beloved master. Instead Erza, who was at the end of her rope, had been the highest ranking official left in Fairy Tail who was present for the war with Phantom Lord and thus was temporally put in charge of the guild. It was all the redhead could do to not break down and weep as she'd struggled to keep things together in front of the Magic Council and her guild mates.

She'd never need Makarov's guidance more than she did when the Magic Council arrived.

But it was finally over. At least for the most part, as nearly all of the Council operatives had packed up and left in the last twenty four hours with little left to do now the verdict of guilt for the guild war had been delivered. All that was left was one rancid grey tent, slightly larger than the rest of the Council's tents had been, which belonged to the councilwoman who had been in charge of the entire investigation.

And it was in the entryway to the tent that Erza stood, dressed in her usual blue skirt and white top, the flap of the tent was drawn back and the redheaded knight stood watch from her position, overlooking what remained of the active members of the Fairy Tail guild as they began to set about rebuilding the guild hall. She would have much rather been out there with them, she thought, but given her sudden position of power and injuries she was currently incapable of assisting them one way or the other.

Instead she awaited the arrival of the councilwoman who had requested one last meeting with her. The woman was one of the member's of Magic Council who she was vaguely familiar with, seeing as she had been one of the one's to oversee her trial the previous month. She also seemed to have some sort of relationship with Siegrain. In the end Erza could only consider it a blessing in disguise that the blue haired man had not been the one placed in charge of the investigation. The sight of Jellal's brother probably would have pushed her past breaking point.

Instead the councilwoman was a dark-haired, pale skinned beauty who introduced herself to Erza as Ultear Milkovich. Something unsettled the Queen of the Fairies when it came to the councilwoman, and it wasn't her connection to Siegrain, but rather the odd interest she seemed to have in _Gray_ of all people. Aside from Erza, Gray was the only member of Fairy Tail Ultear had questioned personally and the Ice-Make wizard had come out of the interrogation looking as though he had seen a ghost and been tight lipped about whatever had passed between himself and the councilwoman; the interview between them had run almost twice as long as anyone else's.

"Good morning, Erza," Ultear greeted politely as she appeared in Erza's peripheral vision, approaching the tent with some documents collected together in a folder that she held against her chest. Erza turned to greet the councilwoman but found the words died in her mouth as the dark-haired woman, dressed in her usual white dress, passed her by without further comment and left her in the shadow of a towering blonde who Erza was more than familiar with.

Laxus Dreyar had finally returned and he looked down at Erza with an expression that was equal parts disappointment and disgust. Erza was not one to normally be intimidated by the hostile blonde, but as she stood there in his shadow, she couldn't help but feel a nervous twinge run down her spine.

What was Laxus doing there? He'd played no part in the war with Phantom Lord except the few short minutes it had taken him to refuse to help them. Yet here he was in the aftermath, arms folded over his chest and his fur lined coat draped over his shoulders like he owned the place.

The nerves quickly disappeared and Erza found herself looking back at Laxus with a furious expression. How _dare_ he show his face around the guild again – let alone so soon after his grandfather's death. If Laxus had just put his hubris to one side Master Makarov might still be alive and with them.

Seeing her expression Laxus just scoffed in amusement, rolling his eyes. "You might have everyone else scare of you, but not me, Titania." Laxus taunted as he finally walked past her, purposely making sure to knock into her shoulder, causing her to lose her balance and place too much weight on her injured leg as she tried to balance herself. Catching herself after a second, the redheaded knight glared at Laxus' shoulders as he settled on standing in front of the makeshift desk which Ultear now sat behind.

Doing her best to regain her composure, Erza hobbled forward awkwardly before sinking into the available chair in front of Ultear's desk.

"Excellent," Ultear spoke, not looking up as she shuffled some of her papers, "with Laxus having returned and a verdict having be reached on the fates of both Fairy Tail and Phantom Lord, observation and disbandment respectfully, we can get down to the last and most important matter with have yet to address." Whilst Ultear spoke, a pen began scrawling down her words on a blank sheet of paper on the desk's edge.

"And what the hell might that be?" Laxus demanded, looking uninterested for the most part. It seemed he knew as much as Erza about the entire meeting.

"That would be the matter of inheritance and succession." Ultear responded calmly, smiling gently. Erza could feel herself frown at the announcement, whilst Ultear always spoke politely she couldn't help but feel like the older woman was actually mocking whoever she was speaking to. It was just another thing she could add to the growing listen of reasons not to trust the councilwoman. The almost predatory smile didn't do anything to ease her nerves either.

After a moment as the pen in the corner continued to scribble away Erza could feel Laxus turn his gaze towards her, a look of triumph in his eyes as her heart suddenly stopped. Were the Magic Council seriously going to give control of the guild to _Laxus_ of all people? No, this couldn't be happening. Master Makarov would never accept the idea of Laxus as he was as his successor.

There had to be another way.

"It seems that Master Makarov did not submit a copy of his final will and testament with the Magic Council." It was a simple enough statement but Erza could feel herself grow slightly more panicked with each passing word. Ultear looked up from a note which she was consulting to add; "It is likely that if he indeed had a will at all, Makarov kept it within the Fairy Tail guild hall and it was destroyed in Phantom Lord's attack.

"It is therefore the Magic Council's decree that Makarov's estate along with his worldly possessions that were not destroyed in recent events pass to his closest living relative, which given the unknown whereabouts of his son, Ivan Dreyar, leaves his grandson Laxus Dreyar as the sole inheritor."

It was like the world was about to fall out from under her, Erza could only sit there in stunned silence as Laxus took a quiet second to revel in this momentous moment. Fairy Tail was _his_ now. Or so they both thought before Ultear pulled them both out of their own thoughts.

"There is one _notable_ exception, however," Ultear's usually rather passive expression changed as her lips coiled into a smirk that gave Erza goosebumps. The woman was clearly enjoying toying with both of them.

"The hell do you mean _exception_?" Laxus hissed, Erza on the other hand could feel hope suddenly take hold once more as she waited with baited breath for the councilwoman to continue.

"The title of guild master." Ultear said plainly, pushing two sheets of paper in their direction before clasping her hands on top of the desk. Laxus looked utterly furious at the declaration whilst Erza could only find it in herself to breath a silent sigh of relief. "Now understand that the title of guild master is not heredity or something that can be inherited by virtue of being a blood relative. It is passed from wizard to wizard when it is proven that one is capable of leading a guild in the stead of the other and as Makarov named no official successor we find ourselves in this position where we must now select a candidate from the available s-class wizards. That's the two of you."

"What about Mirajane Strauss?" Erza asked, Mira was still a technically an s-class wizard even if she wasn't exactly active nowadays. If anything her constant presence in the guild and her position as the unofficial mother of all the wizards in the guild made her the perfect candidate for the the job of guild master.

"The rest of the Magic Council has ruled out Miss. Strauss on account of her inactivity and belief that whilst perhaps she is indeed more qualified than either of you in some areas, so is also sorely lacking in others." Ultear said with a slightly bow of her head, clearly she'd expected the question as the reply almost seemed rehearsed.

"So what, you think Erza can somehow match me when it comes to qualities needed to be a guild master?" Laxus snorted, shaking his head, "I was the old geezer's grandson, no one knows how to run this guild better than I do: I was raised with the intent of taking over this guild damn it! I'm the strongest option you've got."

"As I said earlier," Ultear spoke although scolding a small child, looking to Laxus with a hint of amusement, "the title of guild master cannot simply be inherited under the laws of the Magic Council and there is much more to running a guild than raw power, Laxus.

"In the end," Ultear carried on before Laxus could cut her off, giving him a pointed look that managed to stop him in his tracks, "the Magic Council honestly does not believe either of you are fit to succeed Makarov Dreyar. You are however, our only choices at this moment in time."

There was a long moment of silence as Laxus began to boil over with rage and Erza could only try and wrap her head around what was being said. Laxus would not inherit the guild, that was something, it meant that he would not be able to tear it apart any further for the time being. Master Makarov would never stand for what Laxus would try and shape Fairy Tail into. Still, they did not see her as a good choice either and she wholeheartedly agreed on that front but if she could block Laxus from taking over then she would do whatever was needed of her if it meant protecting Makarov's legacy.

"It is because of this that the Council has ruled, for the time being, you will both serve as intermittent guild masters and share the responsibility of running Fairy Tail. I will be dropping in from time to time in order to observe you both in and out of the guild." Ultear explained, gesturing with one hand to the folder on the desk next to her. "Over the course of the next few months I will submit regular reports on both of you and your progress and when I have reached a conclusion as to who I feel I should be put forward as the correct successor for the position of guild master of Fairy Tail the Council will bestow the title to one of you based on my evaluation.

"Should either of you choose to, you may relinquish you claim to the title of guild master here and now by signing the waiver I have placed in front of you. Should that happen know I will still remain to evaluate the newly appointed master for a brief period to ensure the guild is in good hands. The Magic Council has lost one of its oldest and most powerful guilds these past few days and even though many of its members are not fond of Fairy Tail it would be a great loss to suffer so soon after Phantom Lord."

"Like hell I'm going to let someone else be guild master, Fairy Tail is _mine_." Laxus hissed as he picked up the waiver and crumpled it into a ball and cast it aside before turning to Erza. His glare might have been intense and his intent obvious but this time Erza would not let herself be intimated by the blonde. _I swear, Master Makarov,_ Erza thought as she picked up her own waiver, looking down at it for a brief second, _I will not allow Laxus to destroy Fairy Tail and everything you taught us. Fairy Tail will always stand as a beacon of what a guild should be; family, a place of learning and acceptance for all those who seek it and not a tool for self gain and power._

With her silent oath sworn, Erza tore the waiver down the middle before tossing aside the pieces and scrambling to stand up and leave. Before she could though, Laxus grabbed one of her forearms, twisting her around to look him in the face. Although his expression was thunderous, his voice was a low hiss of rage as he glared at her; "You're going to regret not signing that piece of paper, Erza. I _will_ be guild master."

"I have yet to _not_ regret any of my decisions involving you, Laxus." Erza said back as calmly as she could, doing her best not to looking away from Laxus' gaze and match his glare with one of her own. "But I will not regret this one because you will only ever be guild master over my dead body."

Laxus released her with a jerk of his wrist, crashing into her side once more as he stormed passed her, a whispered: "If that's what it takes," passing between the two of them. And like that, the furious blonde was gone and Erza was struggling to keep her balance once more.

"Well," Ultear said softly, placing her hands on Erza's shoulder's so as to steady her, "these next few weeks are certainly going to prove interesting if nothing else." The coy smirk suggested there was maybe more to the statement the Erza realised but she was too distracted to notice.

After all, she'd just declared war on Laxus. A war she would need to win if the Fairy Tail Master Makarov had died for was to survive the Lightning God's fury.

* * *

 **A/N:** Believe it or not but for the most part I intend for this to be a character piece with heavy emphasis on the relationships between the characters although there is of course an overarching plot and canon threads to take into account and see just how topsy-turvey the world of Fairy Tail gets without Makarov there to keep it in check. One last note, I have played around with backstory prior to my starting point here at the end of the Phantom Lord arc but I'll just let that play out and see who picks up on what, there probably will be some out of character moments as a result as one or two relationships are drastically different than in canon. Give me a shout and let me know what you think of the premise.


	2. The Best Laid Plans

I'd just like to start by saying thanks for all the feedback and responses so far, it was above and beyond what I expected. As a present have this chapter of Laxus being a manipulative scumbag, it was _so_ much fun to write.

* * *

 **Matter of Succession**

* * *

 **II**

* * *

 _The Best Laid Plans_

* * *

Laxus Dreyar

 **August 17** **th** **, X784**

The afternoon was quickly fading as Laxus nursed a drink at the makeshift bar which Mirajane had set up to keep everyone refreshed whilst they worked on rebuilding the guild. The blonde himself hadn't lifted a figure to help and no plans to do, he was far more preoccupied, rightly so in his mind, with thoughts on how he was going to deal with his new redheaded problem.

Laxus, in his own eyes, was many things. He was no fool however, and if it came down to the guild as a whole making a straight up choice between himself and Erza then the odds would be overwhelmingly against him. He supposed, as he sipped on his ale, that a part of that was his own fault but he didn't care. Laxus Dreyar never regretted his decisions. If anything the whole situation just gave him a clear list of who he needed to get rid of when who took control of Fairy Tail – with Erza being at the top of that list. As long as the redheaded knight was around he could never consider his grasp on the guild absolute. Then again, whilst the guild had been a joke under his grandfather's rule, they _had_ taken down Phantom Lord. Maybe there were some keepers hidden amongst the trash after all.

Although, whilst she was admittedly far more popular with the rank-and-file guild members than Laxus himself was, Erza's current position of power was hardly something to boast about. The battle with Phantom had been hard and many people were looking for leadership and not empty reassurance, which was all Erza seemed to know how to give at the moment and even then it was pretty shit. Even though he had stormed out of the meeting with Ultear, Laxus had hung around long enough to hear Erza emerge from the tent and explain to the gathered members of Fairy Tail what had occurred. The response could hardly be called positive. In the end it was hard to tell if the negativity was over the possibility of having Erza or himself as guild master. Probably the latter. Maybe the idea of someone else taking the position of guild master helped people finally start to actually accept his grandfather's loss as absolute truth.

Still, it was irksome, he knew. He honestly had very few options available to him and Laxus new that regardless of what anyone else said he was likely on a clock to take control of the guild. The thought of him moving up the Battle of Fairy Tail had occurred to him briefly during the meeting with Ultear but all of the preparation that had gone into planning the whole thing had been with his grandfather in mind. He would still be able to execute the Battle of Fairy Tail during the Fantasia Festival but the adjustments he would need to account for Erza being his main opponent would prevent him from bringing it forward.

… _No,_ he thought with a slight scowl, realising even the Battle of Fairy Tail might prove too risky in the coming months. Whilst a part of him would much rather just beat Erza bloody and take what was rightfully his, using force to take control of the guild when the she-devil Ultear could drop in at any moment without warning could see him dragged away in chains and the guild given to Erza just because of impatiences. What's more the Thunder God Tribe suddenly showing up after months of being absent from the guild right after his grandfather's death would no doubt put Erza on high alert.

There was a very good reason he'd decided to make his move at the Fantasia Festival, it gave him plenty of cover to move behind and his bodyguards returning to partake in the festival hardly seemed strange. That meant until Freed and the others returned he only had one major ally in the entire guild who he could count on.

Natsu _._

Up until her death, Lisanna had probably been the only one of the younger kids Laxus had actually tolerated to any real degree and he had taken her loss surprisingly hard; even if outside of her siblings the person who had taken Lisanna's loss the worst was Natsu. The salmon haired idiot had somehow found out the mission that had resulted in his friend's death was meant for the none other than the blonde lightning wizard: the slip had requested him personally, but Laxus had thought that routine monster control had sounded boring and told his grandfather he could pawn it off to someone else for all he cared and he picked a different mission for himself before the old geezer could argue.

He returned to the guild the afternoon of the funeral, soaked to the bone and unaware of the death in the family that the guild had suffered. When his grandfather had first handed him the paper explaining what had happened the first thing that had hit him was a sickening sense of _guilt_. The mission had been meant for _him_. Still, he cast the guilt aside with the paper that very afternoon: how was it his fault if Mirajane was to inept to protect her own siblings? It'd been simple monster control for crying out loud. Not to mention wizards died on the job all the time, it was hardly unheard of and it would most certainly not be the last time Fairy Tail lost someone to the job.

Yet when he'd found out, Natsu had very much thought him at least somewhat guilty for the entire mess. Laxus had seen Natsu throw many a temper tantrum in his time at the guild but the boy who had come at him that day had been powered by silent fury and grief. It'd be a little disturbing to see the rosette like that, but Laxus had beat down the young Dragon Slayer with minimal effort. Not before Natsu somehow managed to eat some of his lightning.

Now that had _been_ interesting.

The result was something Laxus had never expected: Natsu could now use his own brand of Dragon Slayer magic. Or rather combine the blonde's Lightning Dragon Slayer magic with his own Fire Dragon Slayer magic. Laxus had needed to beat the idiot senseless a second time in short succession to ensure the younger Dragon Slayer wouldn't go running his mouth off about what had happened.

In the end Natsu's silence had come at a price: he wanted Laxus to train him how to use the magic he'd accidentally obtained. Even back then Laxus had known the reason Natsu wanted to learn was because he planned on using the magic to punish him for the role he'd played in Lisanna's death. It'd been stupid of him to agree, but a part of the blonde wizard had been curious to see just how much the younger boy could achieve when he was driven by such a powerful goal. So, even after nearly two years of training together in secret, whilst they hadn't made the kind of progress Laxus would've like, Natsu had admittedly still improved drastically as a wizard.

Of course Laxus' had expressly forbidden Natsu from using the magic in front of anyone. Originally it was down to that Natsu had little to no real control of Laxus' magic and he would not have the idiot make a fool out of him by misusing his magic but in time it was replaced by another reason. Whilst Laxus had taught him how to use Lightning magic on its own and he forced the pink haired idiot to learn pyromancy that wasn't related to dragon slaying. Only real opponents should be allowed to face Dragon Slayer magic, the Lightning Fire Dragon Slayer mode (as they had come to call it) seemed to be highly unstable and dangerous for Natsu to use for more than a few minutes at a time without risking serious self-injuries. What was more shocking though was that even if accidentally, Natsu had helped Laxus to learn a thing or two about what it meant to be a Dragon Slayer and somewhere along the way the blonde had grown surprisingly fond of the pinked haired pyromaniac – in an annoying younger brother kind of way.

Shaking his head, Laxus cast aside such stupid thoughts as he took another sip of his drink. Chancing a glance over his shoulder at the place where the guild hall would eventually once more stand. Turning away, he resigned himself that in the end he would just have to be patient and wait for his time to take what was his as there was no real way he could actually turn Natsu against Erza fully, at least not currently.

"You could at least try and lend a hand; you know?" Laxus looked up see Mira staring at him with a pointed look. Whilst she had tolerated his presence earlier in the day it seemed he was starting to push his luck with the white haired barmaid. His attitude during the entire war with Phantom Lord hadn't earned him any favours either.

"I don't do grunt work," Laxus scoffed into his mug before taking a swig of his ale, an idea striking him as he lowered the flask. Looking to the barmaid with narrowed eyes, he smirked to himself. It was no secret that Mirajane was one of the most influential members in the guild and whilst she would never join his side over Erza's he could most certainly sow the seeds of discord between the pair. "Besides, all of this has got me thinking about things,"

"About _what_?" Mirajane hissed in a tone that made Laxus give a mock expression of hurt at her hostility. Mira sighed, closing her eyes for a moment, taking a deep breath as she tried her best to act more like the mother everyone now expected her to be. "What have you been thinking about, Laxus?" This would be all too easy, everyone already seemed to be on edge and trying to find their way back, even the usually nowadays placid Mirajane was wound tighter than a new spring and an emotional wreck.

"I dunno, losing Gramps and what it means for the guild," _Got her,_ Laxus thought gleefully although his face was perfect mask of sombre remorse and regret whilst Mirajane went rigid. She took one last look at him, about ready to burst into tears, she turned away but Laxus was ready for that. "I guess it got me thinking about the last time we lost someone. Your last s-class mission. You were never meant to get that mission, you know?"

That stopped her in her tacks, just like he thought it would. She looked over her shoulder at him, utterly stunned. Good, he had her attention now all he had to do was reel her in. Jerking his head to the left, indicating over his shoulder to were Erza and Macao stood around a table discussing the blueprints for the new guild hall: "You see our precious Queen of the Fairies over there?"

Mirajane just nodded as she turned around to look at him horror struck, completely enraptured by what he had to say. A part of him was honestly finding it hard to not burst out laughing at how easy this was turning out to be. Maybe he really didn't have to worry about taking over the guild at his rate – if everything proved this easy he'd be guild master before the month was out.

"The mission slip that came in originally requested her specifically," Laxus was lying through his teeth, of course, but Mirajane held a lot of sway in the guild and whilst she might never side with him outright, if he could turn her and Erza against one another the chaos it would cause amongst the rest of the guild would be more than a solid foundation for him to work on.

"Of course," he added after a small pause for effect, "precious little Erza thought she was too good for monster control and instead told Gramps to dump it on you. Why do you think you got to take Lisanna and Elfman along with you? The numbers were there to help try and balance out the power gap. When I found out the old geezer swore me to secrecy, but I feel you should know the truth."

"Your lying!" Mira's voice become a high pitched scream and Laxus could feel the eyes of everyone else still present turn on the two of them. It was annoying, he could have done without the audience but he could still make this work in his favour. "You're lying." Mira repeated, now at a controlled volume.

Of course he was, but Laxus shook his head in denial: "Truth stings doesn't it?"

"Erza would never do anything like that." Mirajane shook her head and whilst it seemed like her loyalty to Erza was unshaken, Laxus could see the slightly hint of doubt in her eyes. That slither of uncertainty was all he needed though. Standing up, he took one last swing of drink before slamming the glass down on the bar top.

"Hey, who am I tell you the truth, right?" Laxus held up his hands in mock surrender, "I mean only Erza can tell you whether it's true or not," leaning in he added in a whisper, "but do you really think she'd admit to something like that? I mean she practically killed your sister by proxy of not doing her job. Lisanna would still be here if she'd just sucked it up and done what was asked of her."

Something inside him seemed to twist at his own words, but Laxus refused to pay it much heed. Sure there was some truth to what he was saying, _maybe_ a tiny part of him still felt a little guilty, but like he'd thought the day he learned that Lisanna died, the blame was ultimately Mira's because she was too weak to protect her little sister.

"Laxus!" He moved away from the barmaid, turning to see Erza had hobbled her way over to the bar, flanked by Macao, who was quickly joined by a nervous looking Cana. "What are you saying to Mirajane? Is he upsetting you, Mira?" her attention quickly swapped to Mira who just stared back at the redhead, too stunned to really say anything, tears falling down her checks.

Laxus just shrugged his coat back on, looking towards Mira for one last comment: "Like I said, ask her. I doubt she'll give you a straight answer though." There were many confused looks exchanged as Laxus made his exit, chuckling to himself under his breath.

Erza would obviously trying to coax what had happened out of Mira but the barmaid would probably prove tight lipped. It'd be enough to unsettled his competition. He'd opened a heavy wound and if he kept poking at it then maybe he'd get real lucky and the Demon would come out to play one last time and dethrone Titania for him. _Looks like I can call this one a win,_ Laxus thought as the noise of construction faded away and he made his way home. Whilst he might not have earned a new support he had certainly left a rift between Erza and Mira, even if the former didn't know about it yet.

Now that the ground work was laid, all he needed was to figure out what his next move was. Perhaps, he thought, as he caught of Kardia Cathedral out of the corner of his eye, he wouldn't have to wait for the Fantasia Festival to make his decisive move but as he walked something else occurred to him.

Word of his grandfather's death would spread across Fiore in no time, possibly the continent. If it hadn't already. It wasn't uncommon knowledge that Fairy Tail had made many enemies over the years and many would be chomping at the bit for a chance to be ones to finish off Fairy Tail now the guild was without Makarov Dreyar. Perhaps he could use one of those guilds with a grudge against Erza without directly involving himself if his plan with Mira proved to be ineffective.

No, that wouldn't work.

Despite his low opinion of her for the most part, Laxus would not underestimate Erza. He wouldn't be Jose and lose because of misplaced overconfidence. Any of the enemies the guild had that would be strong enough to be a serious threat to Erza were his enemies too. He'd never be able to control such lose cannons and they'd most likely be more interested in taking him down than his competition.

He could maybe use some of their lesser enemies to undermine Erza's ability to lead, cripple those most loyal to her and spread doubt amongst the rest of the guild about what his challenger for the title of guild master was capable. If nothing else, he could use lesser guilds to push Fairy Tail to the precipice of destruction just in time for the Fantasia Festival and the return of the Thunder God Tribe – Ultear would probably be long gone by that point. It was by no means a plan perfect but at least it was the bases of a long term one, which was no doubt more than Erza had by a long shot.

In the end it didn't matter though because there was only one absolute about the coming months as far as he was concerned. Fairy Tail would be his. He would be guild master, and when people spoke of his guild it would with fear and respect in their voices and not amusement and laughter. His grandfather's guild had been a joke and suffered for it – Laxus' guild would crush anything in its path to glory.

There was no other option.

* * *

 **A/N:** So one of the big changes I mentioned in the first chapter notes was the change in certain relationships: Laxus and Natsu's probably being one of the biggest, as seen here Laxus actually has his claws in Natsu but the flame breathing hero of canon is pretty much the same as he is supposed to be, he just has a more positive (?) relationship with Laxus which will be a large part of Natsu's character arc as he must decide where his loyalties lie.

That being said, the next chapter will have some focus on Natsu and we'll get to see some of the other relationships that don't really exist in canon that I want to address in this story. Catch you with the next one,guys.


	3. Walking on Landmines

**Matter of Succession**

* * *

 **III**

* * *

 _Walking on Landmines_

* * *

Natsu Dragneel

 **August 18** **th** **, X784**

The ache that wracked his body was thankfully rather dull, but the stiffness of his joints was unbearable as Natsu finally regained consciousness. It took a moment for the world to come into focus but after it did, the young Dragon Slayer really wished it hadn't as a sudden pounding started in his skull. The effort was unbelievable but eventually he was able to lift one arm and throw his forearm over his face. All the sudden colours of the waking world were torture to his bleary eyes.

Groaning, he flung his arm off of his face after a moment and tried to sit up in bed. It was strange, Natsu thought as the world teetered in and out of focus, his head spinning, waking up in Magnolia Hospital. There were so many foreign smells and sights to behold but he supposed the guild hall was in worse shape than he realised if he'd woken up here of all places. Bringing one hand up, Natsu palmed face in an attempt to rub the sleepiness out of his eyes.

He could remember almost nothing of the past few days aside from muttered words he caught when drifting in and out of consciousness. The last thing he really remembered was fighting the Phantom Lord bastard, Gajeel.

He'd lost.

If there was one thing Natsu hated more than anything it was losing. What's more he'd lost the one time he'd needed to win more than anything. The hand that lay at his side quickly tightened into a fist. Gajeel hadn't beaten him in a fair fight – not after Natsu had needed to fight his way through two of the Element Four just to thrown down with the Iron Dragon Slayer who hadn't lifted a figure prior to facing down the Fairy Tail wizard.

Next time they clashed Natsu would bury the metal faced bastard. Melt him down to scrap melt if that's what it took. Gajeel would pay. _Nobody_ hurt Fairy Tail and got away with it.

In his dazed and frustrated state, it took him a moment to realise something was stirring near the end of the hospital bed. Dropping his hand just in time, all Natsu caught sight of was a blur of blue and white fur flying in his direction, crashing into his chest with a joyous sob of relief.

"Natsu, you're finally awake!" Happy announced between his sobs, face buried in his partner's neck, soaking the bandages there. "You've been out of it for _days_. You had me worried, you total jerk!"

"Hey, buddy," Natsu said with a slight croak in his voice, his throat incredibly dry all of a sudden. He took a moment to scratch Happy behind the ears, doing his best to be comforting, assuring the Exceed he was going to be okay. "I didn't mean to scare you."

"Well, you did!" Happy scolded him as he pulled away from Natsu, turning away as he folded his tiny arms over his chest. Oh, _great_ , the amount of fish-based bribery he would need to do to dig himself out of this one would certainly leave his personal funds hungry.

"You gave us _all_ a scare, Natsu." Another voice said softly, cutting into the conversation before Natsu could try and coax Happy into looking at him again. Looking up, both Dragon Slayer and Exceed saw that standing besides Natsu's beside chair, breakfast tray in hand was none other than Levy McGarden. Although she was dressed simple in an airy yellow sundress and her smile was wide and hazel eyes bright with joy she still bore the marks of Gajeel's vicious attack. Natsu was thankful to see though that worst of it at this point seemed to be some bruises, and minor starches with bandages wrapped around her wrists.

"Levy!" Happy cried, sprouting wings as he flew into the air to greet the female member of Shadow Gear. Levy just smiled, lifting the tray she had brought and Natsu could hear the clatter of culturally and smell the enticing aroma of _bacon_.

"I figured if all else had failed then maybe the smell of food would finally wake Natsu up," her laugh was light and Natsu found himself rubbing the back of his head, feeling a little foolish. Had he really been out of it for that long? Levy didn't let him think for long though as she placed the tray across his lap, plopping down into the seat next to his bed, the morning's paper in hand. "I know you could reheat it, but you might want to eat before it all goes cold."

"Thanks," Natsu said softly, closing his eyes for a moment before inhaling the toast and bacon with eggs and beans in mere seconds. He had several days of eating to catch up on after all.

"Well, at least it seems like your appetite came out all the fighting undamaged." Levy joked, unrolling the paper before casting a quick glance at the morning's headline. When he didn't respond, she looked up again a moment later, Natsu just sat there, brow furrowed frustration again as he glared at the crumbs on his plate.

"I lost to him, Levy," Natsu hissed out, fists shaking at his sides, tray rattling on his lap. He'd been so close. He'd gone through Totomaru and had even tussled with Aria until Gajeel had arrived and stopped the fight, saying he had grown bored of waiting for Natsu and that Aria needed to go find another opponent. Natsu had given everything he had left to the fight Gajeel, but in the end it wasn't enough, not after using a surprising amount of magic to take down Totomaru and then having Aria repeatedly drain him of more and more magic – enough to prevent him from using Lightning Fire Dragon mode. Hell, Natsu was more than confident he could've kicked Gajeel's ass with just his own fire magic if he'd just had some flames to eat.

In the end none of his excuses mattered though as he'd failed to protect the guild.

Levy didn't seem to see it that way; "Hey, where still here aren't we?" her smile was reassuring and her words gentle as she put one of her hands over his shaking fists. It honestly did little to dampen his rage but he could still appreciate the effort, so Natsu took a deep breath and did his best to calm himself. "You'll bounce back, Natsu. It's what you do. Next time you'll win, I know it."

It was strange, Natsu thought, to have Levy comfort him like that. When Natsu had first joined the guild his reading and writing skills hadn't exactly been, well… existent if he was truthful. Erza had tried to teach him how to properly read and write yet her teaching methods had been both forceful and questionable at best. After a disastrous first lesson Makarov had taken the young boy aside and sat him down with Levy. The situation had been explained and Levy had been more than eager at the chance to teach him, hoping to spread her love of literature.

Whilst Natsu had not taken as a keen interest in the written word as Levy had hoped when they started, he'd still learned a lot from her. Even after their lessons had finished they'd stayed close. Maybe they had never been as close as he and Lisanna had been but Natsu had always counted Levy amongst the closest friends he had in Fairy Tail and enjoyed her company and the stories she would tell him and Happy when they were bored.

Until he had started training under Laxus.

Of course no one knew what they were doing, but Levy seemed to disapprove of the amount of time he was suddenly spending with the master's grandson. The first time the pair of them had argued over it Levy admitted she feared Laxus would prove to be a bad influence over him. They'd argued about Laxus several times after that but both of them had been too stubborn to see the other's point-of-view and whilst they had remained friends they had certainly become estranged. No longer did they hang out or swap stories of their latest misadventures and conversation seemed forced and often ended with long silences before they barely even acknowledge one another in passing except when they were with others.

"Yeah, I guess," Natsu nodded after a long moment of silence, realising both Happy and Levy were staring at him with worried expression. He really needed to stop spacing out before they started worrying about his long term health. The again he was pretty sure, knowing the Exceed, Happy had already made a joke or two about brain damage. "Sorry, guess I spaced out again."

"Don't worry about it," Levy said with a grin, straightening the morning paper again and Natsu caught the words _Siebte Übel Rampage Continues_. The actual hell was a _Siebte Übel_? Shaking his head, Natsu decided he didn't care about what was going on in the outside world, and instead settled for asking: "What'd I missed the last few days anyways? "

"Lucy left!" Happy cried out, throwing his hands up into the air as he began rattling off how the blonde had snuck away in the middle of the night, hoping no one would see her.

"Wait what?" Natsu demanded, taken aback but the sudden declaration. Looking to Levy, Natsu found himself completely at a loss for what to say. Did Lucy feel guilty over the whole Phantom Lord attack? Gajeel had explained the whole thing to Natsu and he honestly hadn't cared. Though she was new to the guild Lucy was still their friend and if she didn't want to leave then Fairy Tail wouldn't let Phantom take her.

"She's coming back, Happy." Levy said pointedly, giving Natsu a look of reassurance. Good, he thought, after their adventures this past month Natsu would've been saddened deeply to see Lucy leave. "I caught her leaving last night, she told Happy and I that after everything that'd happened with Phantom Lord she needed to speak with her father. She was a little vague on the details but she promised she'd back in time for the funeral."

"Wait, what funeral?" Natsu demanded, taken aback. Eyes whipping back and forth between Levy and Happy he tried to find an explanation. Funeral? That was news to him. Whilst the blue furred Exceed just broke down into tears Levy threw her hands up to cover her mouth, eyes wide with panic as though she had said something she shouldn't.

Frustration was starting to eat away at him again as Levy became silent, her eyes flying towards the front page of the paper – looking anywhere but at him.

"I, well, you see," Levy stammered out, wringing her hands together as she seemed to pull herself inward. It was something she did, Natsu remembered, when she was nervous or scared, Levy would often try and use her size to her advantage and shrink even smaller in hopes of disappearing. Still she did not look at him though.

Growling in frustration, looking to Happy for a moment to see him a hysterical mess, Natsu threw back the covers of the bed so he could sit up and face Levy. Thankfully the chair was close enough that he could reach over and grab Levy by the shoulders without standing up. His legs felt like the worlds strangest jelly and he didn't know if he could honestly stand.

"Levy." Natsu said forcefully as he tried his best to get the other wizard to look up at him. Levy meet his gaze just for a moment, eyes glistening with silent tears before she looked down in shame. Great, he'd made her cry, now he felt like a jerk. But he was a jerk who need a straight answer. " _Levy_."

"Erza wanted to be the one to tell you," the Solid Script wizard said softly, "she knew you wouldn't take it well and wanted to be here to calm you down." A thousand different possibilities seemed to hit him in that moment, his mind reeling over who the hell Levy was talking about. Erza needed to calm him down? Who the hell had died?

Well, it wasn't Happy seeing as the Exceed was _still_ bawling his eyes at the end of the bed. Good, he thought, he didn't know what he'd do if he was to ever lost Happy but if not him then who? Erza was seemingly fine so she was out. Gray? No, the ice princess was way to suborn to die to Phantom Lord. Laxus? No, Levy wouldn't be anywhere near this upset over Laxus – because in her words Laxus was a 'giant dick'.

So who the hell had died?

Growing more and more impatient Natsu found himself at the end of his rope; " _Levy_!" She'd jumped at his demand, his voice probably a little louder than needed but Natsu didn't care. He needed a straight answer damn it. "Who's funeral? Who died?"

"Oh, Natsu," Levy choked as she finally looked up at him, tears now falling freely. Taking a shuddering breath, she brought one hand up to rub at her eyes with the back of her hand. "It's Master Makarov. He's dead, Natsu."

* * *

Even with shaking legs carrying him, Natsu somehow found the strength to burst out of front door of Magnolia hospital like a man possessed, deaf to Levy and Happy's screams for him to stop.

This was all some sort of twisted joke – it had to be.

Gramps probably thought he was real hysterical: he was always joking about how the guild was going to be the death of him. That's what this had to be, Natsu reasoned as he staggered down the street in the direction of the rebuilding guild: Gramps was just messing with him in some shitty attempt at a joke. Well this shit sure as hell wasn't funny. Natsu was far from being in the mood for jokes after the beating Gajeel had given him as what little patience he usually had was now non-existent. The old man must be out of his mind if he seriously thought he'd ever fall for such a crappy joke. He was Makarov Dreyar for crying out loud – the man had survived just about everything under the sun and was still complaining about how he'd be running Fairy Tail until the end of time.

Well Natsu was going to give the old geezer a piece of his mind for this one.

Or at least he was until a pair of tiny arms threw them around his waist and he found himself staggering to a halt. Looking over his shoulder Natsu could see Levy was holding him back, her face buried the fabric of his baggy white tee around his lower back, muffling her sobs.

"Let me go," Natsu said weakly as he found himself unable to pull away from the young woman. Normally Natsu would have no trouble overpowering Levy, hell, he could bench press weights heavier than the blue haired bookworm with little effort but then and there all of his strength had left him as the reality of the guild was barely visible in the distance.

"No." Levy replied into his back, voice muffled. Natsu growled, giving dirty looks towards the people passing by before he turn to snap back at the small bookworm.

"Let me go, Levy!" Natsu shouted hoarsely, turning away as he tried to press on with Levy still clutching tightly to his waist. Levy clung on tightly however, allowing the Dragon Slayer to pull her a few steps forward before she dug her heels into the street as best she could. Natsu rounded on her over his shoulder, ignoring the whispers of the gathering crowd: "This joke ain't funny and I'm sure as hell going to give Gramps a piece of my mind for this one."

"Do you think I'd joked about something like this!?" Natsu was a little taken aback at how hysterical Levy sounded as he managed to pull himself free of her. Half turning, the rosette found the girl's face was tear stricken and her eyes red and puffy, lower lip quivering in a way that seemed to break what resolve to stand Natsu had left but he refused to let his knees betray him.

"Natsu, please," entire body shaking, Natsu looked down to see Happy looking up at him, fur damp from crying so much and snot dripping from his nose unashamedly.

"B-but it's _Gramps_." Natsu snapped but all anger and force had left his voice and he sounded so small and pathetic even to his own ears at that moment. "Gramps can't die. He just _can't_. Can he?" the last one was the Dragon Slayer pleading with them, or maybe himself because if Natsu was honest he'd known from the start that what Levy had told him was true.

Levy didn't seem to have words of comfort to offer him, instead she just threw herself against him and hugged him around the waist. She was right, of course, Natsu admitted to himself as he stared aimlessly at spot over the top of Levy's unruly blue locks, she wasn't the kind of girl who would ever lie about something like Makarov dying let along joke about it. She was too sweet and honest for that. He just didn't want to believe that his greatest hero was gone.

Was that so wrong of him?

No.

Whilst Igneel would always be his father, dragon or not - and although he was gone, he _was_ out there somewhere - but Makarov had been so much that just a father figure to the young Dragon Slayer. Makarov was the man who had given him a home, and a family and everything else he could possible want in life. The old man had been so generous and warm-hearted, taking him in when many others probably would've just left him on the streets to rot. Natsu had seen much adversity in the years he'd been with Fairy Tail, but the old man had always guided him through it as if Natsu were his own flesh and blood. As he did for everyone in the guild.

The idea of the old man not being there anymore was just straight up _wrong_.

"H-how?" The middle of the street was hardly the proper place to have this conversation but Natsu found himself not caring. All he wanted at this point was the honest truth.

Pulling away slightly, Levy wiped away her tears with the back of her hand before taking a shuddering breath as she did her best to collect herself. Fisting the fabric of his tee, Levy looked up at him with those wide hazel eyes, Natsu found that he could only listen dumbfounded, completely enraptured.

"Even though his magic was drained he came to the battle so he could protect the guild," Levy explained and Natsu nodded along weakly, "Master Makarov used a spell called _Fairy Law_. It defeated what remained of Phantom Lord in a single blow but the strain the spell put on his body caused his heart to give out not long after."

Levy let her gaze drop when she finished her explanation whilst Natsu just found himself staring dumbly into space again. Stupid old man, he thought with a slight hiss as the corners of his eyes began to burn, Aria had drained all his magic: he should have known better than to rush into battle. There was irony there, he knew, but he was too pissed to care.

"Damn it. _Damn it!_ " Natsu roared as his knees finally went and he slumped against Levy. The girl squeaked in utter shock, her own knees giving out as she lacked the strength to hold up Natsu's weight. "Fucking damn it! Stupid old geezer!" Natsu screamed into Levy's hair, but she made no move to try and separate herself from him. She just scoped up Happy and the three of them just cried together in the middle of the street, oblivious to the crowd.

"What on Earthland is going on here!?" Although he couldn't see her, Natsu would always recognise the tone of Erza's 'tell-me-what-hell-is-going-on-before-I-hurt-you' voice.

Looking up just in time, Natsu saw the crowd begin to disperse as Erza, walking with one crutch and an arm in one sling came hobbling towards them with Laxus of all people on her heels. "Natsu! _Levy_?" Erza began, sounding slightly pissed that the young Dragon Slayer had dared to get out of bed without being cleared by her to do so, but seemed suddenly taken aback by the sight of the other wizard. "I- what?"

It took her a moment, but understanding suddenly dawned on Erza's face when Levy sniffed, squeaking out: "I'm sorry Erza, it just slipped out."

"Oh," Laxus looked down to the redhead, sounding smug, "excellent job on keeping him calm, Titania. No, seriously, well done." Erza could only mouth like a stunned gold fish before hanging her head. Shaking his head and doing his best to hide his smugness a little now, Laxus walked over to Natsu before looking down at him. "Idiot." he said, looking down at him with a look of disapproval. Natsu knew the comment was to do with a lot more than simply getting out of bed when he should be resting.

"Come on, Natsu," Erza said softly as she barged her way past Laxus, who just shot her another smirk, "we should get you back to the hospital and into a bed."

"No," Natsu shook his head, being relegated to a bed was possibly the worst thing Erza could do to him. No, he needed to be around the rest of the guild and distract himself he'd probably end up burning down the hospital. "Please, I – I just want to go to the guild and be with everyone else."

"Okay," Erza nodded, surprisingly agreeing with no argument whatsoever. Smiling weakly as she helped him up best she could and after a moment of standing on shaky legs Natsu set off in the direction of the guild on his own, realising for the first time since he'd joined, Makarov wouldn't be there to greet him upon his arrival: the age of Makarov Dreyar was officially over.

* * *

 **A/N:** A quick couple of things to clarify: firstly, Levy being the one to actually teach Natsu how to read and write is a personal headcanon because I think that it'd be a fun friendship to explore, hence its inclusion. Secondly, this chapter sort of confirms that whilst she will pop up from time to time (sorry people that didn't want her, she _is_ an important part of the guild), Lucy's role will be very minor for the most part given her current position in the guild doesn't lend much to the story and her canon arcs that occur during this time period are relatively unaffected by what's going on elsewhere. Lastly, I'm sure someone is already typing up how Natsu, with training from Laxus, not stomping Gajeel is crap but I did try to frame it in a way that seemed reasonable. Erza did not rejoin the fight after tanking Jupiter in this story like in canon so Natsu's fight with Aria lasted much longer and he lost a lot more magic to Airspace as a result. I just need to pull Natsu down and ground him a little more and reel in the clutch ass power ups. That said, I'll catch you all with the next one in two weeks, later people!


	4. Then and Now

**Matter of Succession**

* * *

 **IV**

* * *

 _Then and Now_

* * *

Erza Scarlet

 **January 4** **th** **, X781**

The Winter Solstice had come and gone as it always did, and with its passing the new year had come at long last. Although little to nothing had really happened in the past two weeks besides partying and feasting, the country of Fiore was getting back into the swing of things as guild business finally started back up again.

With mission requests finally coming back into Fairy Tail, Erza was more than a little anxious to get back to work after two weeks of sitting around with her first mission of the new year loaming over her. It wasn't so much that she didn't enjoy the holidays but this year would be special: this would be her first year as one of the guild's s-class wizards. At the end of the previous year she had barely managed to pass Fairy Tail's s-class exam on the first try. She was the youngest wizard in the guild to ever obtain the rank, dethroning Laxus who had held the title before her.

Still, there were rules that needed to be obeyed and traditions that needed to be upheld. Given how the guild had gone into party mode upon completion of the exams, Erza had yet to actually undergo her first s-class job. Yet with the guild up and running again Erza was sat at the bar with Master Makarov who was flicking through a small pile of s-class job requests.

Looking in her direction as she grew more agitated by the second, the old man chuckled: "Hold your horses, Erza. You'll get your job. We just have to wait on Laxus." Erza, practically bouncing in her seat, nodded stiffly as she grew more impatient. In was one of the guild's rules that new s-class wizards underwent their first mission whilst under the supervision of one of the senior s-class members.

Normally Erza rarely worked with anyone, but guild rules were guild rules and they needed to be upheld lest things fall into anarchy. But with both Gildarts and the Master's own son, Ivan, out on jobs of their own the only s-class wizard still at the guild was _Laxus_. Who was now almost an entire hour overdue.

Normally she did not tolerate tardiness, but this was worse. Erza was stuck there with the Master until Laxus arrived, seeing as he was the one who would pick her first s-class mission from the selection Master Makarov had made. The old man who sat atop the bar surface chuckled again, shaking his head as footsteps sounded behind them, taking a sip of his drink afterwards.

"You're late, _boy_." Master Makarov said pointedly, but his expression betrayed his tone as he looked about ready to buckle with laughter. The old man knew Erza was more than anxious to begin but for Laxus it was just any other day. The old man seemed to think they made a complimentary team, Laxus would listen to Erza's stern rule when needed but the blonde had the uncanny ability to help her unwind when she was being _too_ serious.

"Yeah, yeah," Laxus waved him off, looking bored as he let his pack drop to the floor and he sat down on the stool next to Erza's. The redhead gave the blonde a pointed look, one that would scare many of the others in the guild but Laxus didn't even bat an eye as he reluctantly took the three different job requests from his grandfather. "Jeez, Scarlet, relax will you? It's not like the jobs are going anywhere."

Whilst Laxus' attitude annoyed her to no end, Erza still liked to think her relationship with the older wizard was cordial, even if he knew exactly how to push her buttons and enjoyed doing so far too much. Still, Laxus was never outright cruel about it and when he wasn't playing the ass Erza, enjoyed training with the blonde. They had actually done several missions together in the past but this would be their first job together in sometime, let alone their first s-class job as a pair.

"Where'd the new bling come from then, Scarlet?" Laxus asked disinterestedly, flicking through the jobs without actually reading them, the blonde was too busy watching her carefully out of the corner of his eye. Erza could only flush furiously whilst Master Makarov winked at her – the Master had bought her the new piece of polished Heart Kreuz plate armour, their latest model, as a gift during the Winter Solstice. It was also meant to commemorate her passing the s-class exam which had destroyed her old standard armour.

Laxus of course knew all of this, he'd been there when Master Makarov had gifted the armour to her – a little too interested in her reaction to the gift for someone who was just passing through at that moment. Although the armour was still a little big for her, and it made her look as awkward as she felt. Master Makarov had explained that seeing as she was still only fifteen she had plenty of growing to do and the armour had been built with that in mind but Laxus would never pass up an opportunity to tease her. He'd made a crude comment about he looked to day when she would finally fill it out properly when she'd first tried on the plate.

"You look stunning, Erza," the Master assured her with his grandfatherly smile, and out of the corner of her eye she could see Laxus subtly nod his agreement – she'd have missed it if hadn't suffered so much time with the blonde as she had. Her face flushed again with enough colour to live up to her name, and her eyes suddenly found an interesting stain on the wooden bar top as the blonde smirked in her direction. He really did enjoy getting under her skin far too much.

"Alright, old man," he said eventually, throwing two pieces of paper back at his grandfather before waving around a third, "we'll take the Amaryllis job. Sounds like the thing that'll give her the biggest reality shock." Laxus yawned, cracking his neck. Master Makarov nodded his approval slowly, it looked as though a part of him had hoped Laxus wouldn't pick that particular job but he could not fault his reasons for doing so.

Clapping his hands together, Master Makarov shot Erza a large smile before looking back to his grandson: "You be careful out there," he began sternly, before looking to Erza again meaning: _both of you_. Erza nodded, a nervous yet excited feeling rising in her gut as she looked over to Laxus who shoved the mission slip in her direction. "This request was originally sent out to several guilds and comes directly from the Magic Council. This man who is calling himself 'Stormbreaker' is not to be taken lightly – even if he is only one man the amount of destruction he has left in his wake is comparable to that of an entire dark guild. Be safe, my children."

"Would you quit your worrying old man?" Laxus rolled his eyes, looking to Erza with an overconfident smirk. He nodded encouragingly and she smiled back, together they'd be more than enough for the so called Stormbreaker. "We'll be back before the end of the week. I mean odds are this guy is just some chump whose being lucking out until now." Master Makarov gave a slight grunt of disbelief but made no comment.

"At this rate you're going to dig yourself an early grave with all the worrying you do." Laxus joked, shaking his head. "C'mon, Scarlet, we got asses to kick and names to take." Reaching down, the lightning wizard grabbed his sack from the floor, flinging it over one shoulder as he turned on his heels and headed for the door.

Erza quickly stood, snatching her own pack from the ground before turning towards Master Makarov and bowing deeply. "Thank you so much, Master," she said softly, rising out of her bow, "Laxus and I will make you proud."

Although it was faint, the redhead wizard could have sworn she heard the Master mutter: "You already have, both of you." Whether she imagined it or not she did not know, but her heart swelled with joy nonetheless. Many of the other guild members gathered waved her off as she dashed for the door where Laxus still waited for her.

"Alright," Laxus shrugged one shoulder as he adjusted his knapsack, looking towards the edge of town, "It's two days walk to Amaryllis by foot, a day and a half if we only stop to sleep so let's get going."

Erza scowled at the announcement, it was one of the things she disliked about working with Laxus: his hate of all forms of transport. Although he'd never actually told her why, she'd long figured it out. She wasn't stupid after all. This time however, she decided she'd let it go. The details of the mission sounded much more appealing than an argument she already knew she would lose.

Erza eagerly looked to the mission slip, curious to see what exactly it was that they'd be doing. It only took her a second to realise this particular slip was closer to a wanted poster rather than a regular job request. It read:

 _Wanted: Gale 'Stormbreaker' Belserion_

 _Warning: Belserion is currently wanted for being responsible of multiple counts of manslaughter, with twelve known victims as of this request. He is also believed to be a practitioner of dark and forbidden magic currently outlawed by the Magic Council. He is also responsible for wanton destruction of public property and resisting arrest._

 _He is also suspected of holding key information in regards to the attack on Rosemary Village which occurred on the second of September in X775 and may know the whereabouts of those responsible for the attack. It is imperative this man be captured alive so that he might be questioned and punished to the full extent of the law for his crimes._

 _Bounty: 750, 000, 000 Jewels_

 _Client: Magic Council Chairman, Crawford Seam_

Erza hadn't even realise she'd stopped in the middle of the street until Laxus shouted her name for what must have been the third time. She was just so utterly enraptured by the image that took up much of the poster.

The young man in the picture couldn't have been much older than Laxus, possibly the same age, captured from the waist up and in magic sealing chains. The man's eyes were a narrowed, a cold and hateful shade of cobalt with a faint of patch of white in his otherwise scarlet red hair, with a distinctive scar cutting down over his right eye and cheek, teeth bared in a hideous snarl showing off his pointed canines. What's more his entire right arm was wrapped in black bandages that looked new and fresh in comparison with the dirty and worn down looking dark navy jacket and white tank the man was wearing.

This man, Erza thought, as she stared down at those hateful eyes, the eyes of a killer, knew about Rosemary? _How_?

" _Erza_ ," Laxus put a hand on her shoulder and she suddenly shook herself from her thoughts. Looking up, she found Laxus looking back at her with a hard expression. Clearly he knew something about the request bothered her, but from the quizzical look in his eyes she gathered he couldn't tell what.

"Sorry." she said in a murmur casting her eyes down for a moment before steadying her resolve. _Focus,_ she ordered herself, there would be time to think about these things later. "We should get going." When she made to move past Laxus however, he held her in place firmly with his grip on her shoulder. His look was demanding at first, brows narrowed into a taut scowl but when she bit her lip nervously, his expression seemed to soften.

Laxus' hand dropped from her shoulder and he took one last look at her, before jerking his head over his shoulder. "Well, go on then," he said forcefully, folding his arms over his chest, "this is your mission ain't it? Act like it. Lead the way, Scarlet."

Erza nodded, breathing a faint sigh of relief that Laxus was going to let the matter drop – at least for now. Whilst it was true that Laxus was often rude and standoffish with most of the guild members, the idea of him being heartless like some might suggest just seemed outlandish.

Laxus had a good heart, the same heart as Master Makarov. The heart of a good man, who would one day make a great guild master. He was just much more guarded with it was all. But when he allowed others to see it, she knew it would be worth the struggle to see it.

In the end, as the pair headed out of Magnolia, in comfortable silence, high hopes for their mission, Erza couldn't help but wonder what the guild might be like under Laxus one day. After all, it was probably only a matter of time until her took over.

* * *

 **August 18** **th** **, X784**

"You heartless bastard!" Erza shouted across the table at Laxus, fury driving her to stand without her crutch as she hobbled around the table to face the blonde properly. Thankfully it was late and most of the guild had retired for the evening, the sun setting in the distance, so there were effectively no witnesses to this particular argument. It must've been their third or fourth of the day. Surprisingly few, all things considered.

This was the worse of the lot though. To some degree she'd at least be able to understand Laxus' reasoning in most of their previous arguments. This however. This Erza could not understand, she just couldn't.

Laxus for his part shot her a sideways glance before adjusting his headphones trying to ignore her. Clearly he seemed no more willing to argue than Erza felt, but she could not let this slide. "Don't you ignore this," she screamed at him, yanking on the cord to his headphones and pulling them off. He would not ignore her. "Laxus! He was your grandfather!"

"So _what_ , Scarlet!?" Laxus snapped back at her, realising she wasn't going to let this one go. "The old geezer is dead, just bury him and be done with it already." The way he said it so matter-of-factly struck her like a knife to the heart.

"We've got more important things to worry about than Gramps' funeral." Laxus said in a scolding tone as he yanked his headphones back from her grip, glaring at her now. "Do whatever the hell you want. Just bury the old geezer quickly and move on."

That was it. Laxus said no more, turning into a bolt of lightning and vanishing from the guild before she could even call out his name. Erza had known, _everyone_ had known, that these days the relationship between Laxus and his grandfather wasn't a positive one. But when she'd confronted him on the matter of putting his grandfather to rest, hoping, foolishly, that they might be able to at least do that together if nothing else, there had been no anger or hate in Laxus' voice when he'd spoken to Erza.

Sure he was clearly frustrated over the fact she would not so easily let this matter drop, but when it came to his grandfather, Laxus' anger had been replaced. Instead there was only indifference. To see how close, they'd once been and what things had come to – Erza found Laxus' indifference hurt a thousand times more than his hate.

And it was as the streak of lighting vanished from sight completely that Erza realised that in more ways than one, in that moment she was completely alone. _Master,_ she thought, letting herself drop into a seat as she looked to the frame work of the rebuilding guild, tears sting at the corners of her eyes, _what do I do now?_ She truthfully didn't know if she could protect the guild.

"No," she hissed to herself, "you swore an oath, Erza. I won't, _can't_ , let the guild fall." That promise was something she was beginning to wonder if she could keep however. The guild meant everything to her, and there was once a time when she had looked towards the idea of Laxus as guild master with hope.

Now though she dreaded the prospect, not because she'd be dead before such a thing happened, but what would become of those she'd leave behind without protection from Laxus' wrath. Likewise, Laxus was not likely to back down from this whilst he still drew breath. No, what truly hurt and scared her was that Master Makarov's funeral would most likely not be the only one in the coming months.

The only real question was who was going to end up lying next to Master Makarov when the dusted settled: her or Laxus?


	5. Moths to the Flame

**Matter of Succession**

* * *

 **V**

* * *

 _Moths to the Flame_

* * *

Levy McGarden

 **August 19** **th** **, X784**

The events of the previous day still wore heavily on Levy's mind as the guild took a united break for lunch. When she wasn't chasing her lunch around the plate with her fork disinterestedly she was shooting glances over to the table where Natsu sat with Erza and Gray.

After she'd agreed to let Natsu join the rest of the guild the previous morning, Erza had brought the young man sit at the make shift bar, sharing a quiet meal with him in silence. In the end though the pair had come to discuss Master Makarov's death in hushed whispers and what was happening as a result. Laxus of course had been nearby the entire time, making the odd snide remark and making sure Erza never said anything he didn't want Natsu to hear. He occasionally corrected her over tedious things just because he could. It'd resulted it a few arguments, but those had been plentiful between the redhead and blonde the past few days.

After his earlier meltdown it was surprising to watch how calm Natsu stayed for the remainder of the day from her spot at one of the wooden tables they'd salvaged from the guild. Levy wasn't exactly built for the type of manual labour needed to rebuild a guild so instead she had been put in charge of cataloguing all of the items that had been recovered from the wreckage and making sure they found their way back to their rightful owners. Jet and Droy often dropped in throughout the afternoon to check in on her between hauling wooden beams around, but her responses had been robotic and she didn't really remember much of anything either of them had said. Or get much work done either for that matter.

She'd been too busy watching Natsu sit with Erza and Laxus. Heck, the entire guild had been. It was so utterly strange to see Natsu so quiet but Levy knew from experience this was just how the Dragon Slayer grieved: first he would emotionally blow up and then he would retreat into himself for as long as he needed before he would pick himself up and charge onward as he had always done.

At the end of the day, when the sun was fading and everyone was packing up Erza had scolded her for getting so little done that day, but the scolding had lacked bite given the redhead understood that she was worried about Natsu. They all were. Yet Levy knew she was the one that had gone home the previous evening with a horrible knot in her stomach and the knowledge that it was her who had taken Natsu's smile away. She was the one who had stupidly opened her mouth without thinking when Natsu needed to hear something positive, not get kicked when he was down.

It had gotten Levy thinking about the last time she'd seen the rosette like that – after Lisanna's passing. She hadn't exactly been the friend she should've been when that had happened; largely because Natsu had fallen in with Laxus shortly after and the influence he seemed to have over the younger wizard. Natsu never quite went back to his normal self after Lisanna's death, he was quieter and more subdued and his smile was never as wide. She'd blamed that on Laxus.

Or maybe she had just been a poor friend. Because truthfully Natsu had been just as passionate and crazy as he always was – she was just never there to see it. It shamed her to think that she'd distanced herself so greatly from Natsu when he'd probably needed a real friend more than ever and not someone like Laxus to comfort him. If what Natsu had been doing with Laxus had been in anyway comforting. It was one of the reasons she'd taken to visiting him in hospital whilst he was unconscious, this time she would be there for him.

Levy had been so wrapped in her own thoughts she'd utterly missed that the object of much of her musing sat himself down at her table, greeting her teammates with a wave. Likewise, Gray had stood up from the table where the pair had sat with Erza and was now making his way around the rest of the guild.

"I just spoke with Erza," Natsu explained before anyone could ask, capturing the attention of everyone listening. Happy, who was with him looked a little downcast but at least seemed more in control of himself than yesterday, much calmer. "Gramp's funeral is going to be on Wednesday morning. She's busy trying to get word out to everyone away on jobs at the moment. Still, she wants to keep it low-key."

"That's good," Jet said with a nodded, and Levy could only agree. It was about time they got the chance to lay their beloved guild master to rest.

"Yeah," Natsu shrugged one shoulder, "she wants me and Gray to let everyone here know, so I'll catch you guys later."

"Bye, guys!" Happy echoed as he jumped down from the table top, following Natsu as the boy headed off to talk to Macao, Wakaba and Cana. Levy though found herself compelled to stand up and run around the table, calling after the pair.

"Natsu, Happy wait up a second!" she shouted after them, out of the corner of her eye she could Jet and Droy go to stand. After a moment though they swapped a look and turned away, quickly offering her an encouraging thumbs-up but they made no further move to stop her. Levy could only silently thank them, breathing a deep sigh of relief; she didn't need an audience for this.

Natsu and Happy stopped at her shouting, turning to face her with looks of curiosity as she caught up to them. She stood there for a long moment, uncertainty creeping in as Natsu looked down at her with bemusement whilst Happy tilted his head to one side, asking if she was okay. Although she nodded, Levy wasn't completely sure – she hadn't planned to do this, it'd been an impulsive act and now she wasn't too sure if she could follow through on what she'd hoped to do.

In the end she looked down at the ground, lifting her right hand to rub her left arm, trying to find the right words for what she wanted to say. After a moment, when she finally looked up again Natsu was looking down at Happy with a look of impatience. The Exceed just shrugged, knowing nothing.

"Listen," Levy finally managed to say, letting her hand drop to her side as she steeled her resolve. There was no right or wrong way to say this, she just needed to come out and say it. "About yesterday, I need to– "

Natsu held up a hand to stop her mind sentence, folding his arms over his chest as she trailed off. Levy found herself panicked for a moment, but his hard expression of impatience suddenly melted into one of gentle understanding. "If you're thinking about saying sorry then you can forget it. You've got nothing to be sorry for."

"But, I – _really_?" Levy blinked, a little surprised

"Look," Natsu chuckled as he ruffled her hair teasingly, "I appreciate the fact you told me. Even if you didn't mean to. I'd have been more upset if you kept Gramps' death from me."

"I shouldn't have just blurted it out like that, though!" Levy said, guilt settling in her stomach once more. Natsu just rolled his eyes at her and decided to clean out the inside of one of his ears with one finger. "It was really insensitive of me…" she broke off weakly, realising Natsu wasn't paying her much attention.

"You done with the pity party?" Natsu asked after a moment, stuffing his hands into the pockets of his pants. "Like I said, I'd have been even more upset if you didn't say anything. You gotta stop with the guilt trip, Levy. It's not what Gramps would want."

"Are you sure? I mean I still feel horrible,"

" _Don't._ " Natsu rolled his eyes again, "you're right, I'm upset about Gramps being gone, but not at you for telling me. Maybe things will never be the way they were but that doesn't mean I'm going to give up and roll over."

"He's right you know!" Happy pipped up for the first time, throwing a paw in the air so they would notice him. "Master Makarov did what he did to protect the guild and it's important we carry that memory with us. If we stop to drown in our grief, then we're doing his memory a disservice."

"Happy's right," Natsu nodded, "Gramps would kick out asses if he knew we were being a bunch of cry-babies over him. We gotta keep going and give it our all, because that's the best way we can honour the old man."

"I really wish I could bounce back as fast as you two," Levy murmured softly, feeling rather small all of a sudden.

"We all deal differently," Natsu shrugged one shoulder, "But if we stick together we'll make it through this. As a family, the way Gramps would want."

"Thank you, Natsu," Levy smiled weakly, nodding. Truthfully she knew it wouldn't be that easy and she didn't think Natsu did either, but maybe a part of him was saying it because he himself needed to hear it to.

" _Although_ ," Natsu said, grabbing her shoulder as she turned to leave, turning her back around to face him, his expression was almost evil as he chuckled to himself as his eyes seemed to flash red for a moment and Levy was beginning to question her life choices. "If you insist on beating yourself up over telling me, I've got an idea on how you can repay me." Natsu announced, and then the Fire Dragon Slayer did something that honestly shocked Levy. He grinned at her. Not just a polite smile but a full on wide, toothy smirk of a grin that just screamed Natsu. "Erza says I can start going on missions again after Gramps' funeral, but she won't let me go alone. So whaddya say? Be my baby sitter?"

"M-me?" Levy blinked in surprise, utterly speechless. Even back when they had been close she and Natsu had never once gone on a mission together. Largely in part because she was well aware of Natsu's overzealous nature and was interested in keeping her reward money.

"Well, yeah!" Natsu laughed off her shock with his usual good natured chuckle as he tucked his hands behind his head. "I mean you and me are friends, and with Lucy outta town for a couple days it'll be fun to hang out for a while!"

"Are you sure, I mean what about Gray?" Natsu's face scrunched up at the mere thought. "I mean aren't you guys teammates now?"

"You really think I want spend time with _that_ guy alone? No thanks," Levy just sighed, of course they would always fight with one another but she'd started to think maybe Natsu and Gray had found some common ground as teammates.

"It because he _likes_ you." Happy teased, rolling his tongue as he spoke, and Natsu rounded on him, looking both flustered and outraged.

"Shut it cat!" He snapped in a manner that reminded Levy of Lucy, which left the short blue-haired young woman muffling her laughter behind one hand. The new addition to the guild was probably rubbing off on their Dragon Slayer more than he realised. Truthfully though, going back to the topic at hand, the offer was surprisingly tempting. Maybe a mission together would be exactly what they needed to reignite their friendship - awful pun no intended. What's more Natsu was still injured from his battle with Gajeel so he would probably not be as active as he usually was. Well, Natsu was a fast healer but surely he wasn't _that_ fast – what damage could he _really_ do?

"Well, I suppose one mission wouldn't be that bad of an idea," Levy smiled, clasping her hands behind her back and bouncing on the balls of her feet. Her heart swelled when Natsu gave the brightest smile she'd seen him give in a long time.

"Alright!" he cheered, punching there air. "I'll make sure to pick the best mission Mira's got on the board!" he cried, all toothy grin now.

" _Natsu_." Levy looked at him sternly, whilst a part of her doubted just how destructive he could be in his current condition, she wasn't going to risk Natsu going on a mindless rampage and losing their reward money. "I'll be picking the mission if I'm the chaperon."

"Aw, man," Natsu moaned, head lolling to one side as he suddenly looked defeated, "you're no fun. You know that right?" Happy echoing his no fun comment.

She just stuck her tongue out at the pair, and they shared a laugh before a shadow loamed over them. Looking up, they all saw Porlyusica standing over them, looking utterly livid. "What are you doing out bed, stupid boy!" Natsu could only scream in terror like a little girl, Happy throwing his arms up into the air, running around in circles as the Dragon Slayer made a mad dash for safety as the crotchety old medicine woman gave chase.

"Run Natsu, run!" Happy cried after his friend, but otherwise offered no real help as the rosette ran screaming, crying tears of terror as the old lady in charge of his care hunted him down like some sort of starving predator. Levy could only laugh despite herself, the giggles causing her entire body to shake as the rest of the guild turned to watch, everyone erupting into laughter.

 _Maybe,_ just maybe, _we'll actually make it through this in one piece._ Levy thought as she wiped away a tear and for the first time in days, her heart felt light and the guild was back to exactly how it should be: loud, rambunctious and full of people who loved each other like family. Because Natsu was right, at the end of the day, Master Makarov would never forgive them if they let the true spirit of Fairy Tail die.

* * *

 **Gray Fullbuster**

The day was almost at an end, yet Gray honestly had no real intention of going home any time soon. All had not been well in the guild since Makarov's death. Despite being well known throughout the entire kingdom of Fiore as a place of light-hearted chaos, carnage and some rather peculiar members; the guild had been anything but in the past week. Instead grief and sorrow were recent additions to the guild, hanging over the members, prodding at them in a desperate plea for attention as they slowly sucked the once vibrant guild dry of life.

And despite all the hardships Fairy Tail had endured before, this time was different; Gray Fullbuster couldn't help but admit to himself. Nobody seemed really sure how to act or what to do at the moment, outside of rebuilding the guild hall they lacked direction. Gray was a little worried about what might happen when the guild was finally rebuilt and no one knew what to do next.

Erza seemed so distracted and distant from everyone since the master's passing, Mira looked more like she was going through the motions rather than being aware of what she was doing – even Laxus seemed more withdrawn and irritable than usual. Natsu wasn't much of himself either but after a full day free of hospital he seemed more interested in throwing himself into whatever could take his mind of things than anything else.

It was as eerie as it was wrong. Fairy Tail was _not_ supposed to be like this, Gray kept telling himself.

 _It really doesn't get any easier,_ he thought, looking out over one of the rivers that ran through Magnolia, a green glass bottle full of cheap ale sat on the short stone wall he was leaning against, a half smoked cigarette hanging limply from between his lips (Erza would probably tear into him if she found out he was smoking again). Thinking back on it, Gray recalled that he'd only been eight when Deliora had attacked Isvan; he doubted he would ever forget the day where he lost both his parents to the Demon of Destruction. Roughly nine months later he'd also lost Ur to the same demon because of his need for vengeance, hell even years later and despite not having been very close Lisanna's passing had still hit him hard.

Now _this_.

Whilst his past experiences had allowed him and grief to become well acquainted with one another, it didn't make it any easier to cope whenever it decided to stop by and visit again.

Still Gray knew enough of death that he couldn't simple roll over and give up because Master Makarov was gone. That would be the last thing the old grump would want any of them to do. So the Ice-Make wizard had already sworn to himself that after the funeral he'd pull his shit together and pick himself back up and find his own way again. It's what Makarov would want.

Even then there was something else eating at him that had nothing to do with Makarov that was slowly eating away at him. Ultear. A girl who by all definition should be dead.

Although Ur had never truly spoken of her daughter, Gray was aware of his master's loss. Or he thought he had been. But when he had walked into the Magic Council tent, Erza having told him the councilwoman wished to speak with him personally, he'd honestly thought he'd seen a ghost for a moment. Thankfully he'd only taken a moment to shake it off, noting that despite her shocking resemblance to her mother, Ultear was most certainly _not_ her mother.

The questions she asked him concerning the Phantom Lord incident had been few and fast. Yet, she had not released him upon asking her last question. Instead she sat in her seat, chin resting in one hand as she _studied_ him at great length in eerie silence. It'd been a very unsettling experience. In the end Gray had demanded an explanation and Ultear had replied to each question without really answering any of them. It'd been infuriating, but he supposed it did make sense, Ultear couldn't of become a member of the Magic Council at such a young age without one hell of a poker face. She'd fed him enough to make the Ice-Make wizard highly suspicious of her real motive but had given no real hint as to what it might be.

Eventually the meeting turned into a question for question quiz: Gray could tell though that his own attempts to appear vague and uninterested as Ultear were obvious, the older woman seeing right through him. Their interview reached a point that whilst Ultear had been quizzing Gray about her mother's teaching methods that she seemed to realise just how long they had been talking and ended the meeting abruptly. On his departure though, she had stopped him briefly to inform him that Juvia Lockser had thus far evaded capture and he was to keep an eye out, should she come seeking revenge. Gray hardly thought the Phantom Lord wizard was the type for petty vengeance but had thanked Ultear regardless.

He'd since seen Ultear around the rebuilding guild hall several times before a verdict was passed and although she made no further effort to engage him in conversation he could feel her watching him closely every time she made an apperance. There was a game being played between them, Gray just wished he knew what the game was and how the hell he was supposed to play it.

"Come here often, pretty boy?" Speak of the devil and she shall appear, Gray thought with a frown as he pushed off of his wall to meet Ultear's gaze. She was still dressed in her usual attire, but her posture seemed more relaxed and less regimented than when he'd seen her previously. Her smile was coy, curling and eyes twinkling as she batted her lashes for him, chest out so he would notice without being _too_ obvious about it.

Yet Gray knew enough to not be pulled in - completely. He was a hot blooded young man and there was no denying Ultear was incredibly attractive. She was also crafty and had some sort of agenda that he was somehow a part of. He sighed in the end, deciding he would play along for now because it was a welcome distraction from the cluster fuck that was the rest of his life.

"Drink?" he offered, holding up the green bottle for the councilwoman to see. She took it with a sultry smirk, eyeing him over the top of the bottle.

"Urgh," Ultear's smug, sultry expression quickly shifted into disgust as the taste of the alcohol hit her. Gray couldn't help but feel a little smug himself as the dark haired woman examined the bottle for a moment. "How do you drink this piss water, Gray?"

"It's cheap." He answered honestly. Ultear just rolled her eyes, passing the bottle back to him with obvious contempt for its contents. He took it without question and took a swig, enjoying the numbing sensation of the drink for a moment. "So, how come you're still here?"

"Well," Ultear said in that almost dismissive tone of her's, eyeing him sideways as neither made the attempt to make eye contact, "given recent events I think it's only natural that I remain in town for the time being. To pay my respects, of course." Gray didn't buy that for a second, and Ultear seemed to notice. "You don't trust me?"

"About as far as I can throw you." His response was quick and true, but her reaction of mock hurt made it hard to take her seriously.

"Come now, Gray," Ultear said coaxingly, tone playful as she looked down to her bust for a moment, playing the part of an embarrassed little girl as she looked away, covering her breasts with her arms, "I know I'm a little top heavier than most girls but I'm not _that_ heavy."

"You're supposed to be dead." Gray said, ignoring her flirtations - he just wasn't in the mood to dance in circles after the week he'd had.

"I must have missed the memo," Ultear said offhandedly but her expression seemed to harden, but with this woman Gray couldn't tell if it was an intentional slip or he'd genuinely found a crack in her seductress facade. Given her mother had been a touchy subject that she had been okay with only when they discussed Ur on her terms, Gray thought that maybe it was the latter.

"You can't expect me to trust me without giving me some sort of explanation as to how everything I thought I knew about you was wrong, Ultear." There was a moment of long silence as the two wizards just stared at one another, neither of them willing to be the first to blink. When Ultear eventually looked away first, Gray couldn't help but feel like she was letting him win this round. If anything his damned curiosity was pulling him deeper into her tangled web.

It was too late now though as when Ultear looked back to him, smiling coyly, he got a horrible feeling that he'd played perfectly into her hands. He knew he was on a set of strings now. "Well, how about you take me somewhere nicer and buy me a real drink and we'll have that talk you seem so interested in having. Sounds fair, no?" It did. It was _too_ fair. For someone who had been so guarded last time they had spoken Ultear now seemed all to eager to talk freely.

Despite the stupidly large amount of questions that suddenly came to mind when he nodded slowly in agreement, Gray knew that the only one that mattered in that second was one he might never truly find the answer to. Just what the hell had he gotten himself into?


	6. A Hole in the World

**Matter of Succession**

* * *

 **VI**

* * *

 _A Hole in the World_

* * *

Erza Scarlet

 **August 22** **nd** **, X784**

The morning of Master Makarov's funeral came all too quickly for Erza's liking. Everything had gone by so quickly that it had all become one massive blur of black suits and dresses with solemn expressions. It was foolish of her, but the redheaded knight knew all too well how many enemies Fairy Tail had – she was responsible for more than a few of them – but she had hoped in vain that Makarov's funeral would be a quiet affair for the guild to say their goodbyes in peace without outside interference.

The reality could not have been further removed from her hopes. Cardia Cathedral had been packed beyond capacity as not only had a massive number of guild members past and present attended, but what must have been well over half of Magnolia was also in attendance whilst others stood outside as more important guests, such as other guild masters and Magic Council officials had laid claimed to many of the seats inside the old Cathedral so as to pay their respects. If nothing else, perhaps the sheer number of guests would at least scare off any possible enemies looking to pick a fight with Fairy Tail in their hour of weakness.

In the end, the most shocking attendee of all to Erza was probably the one everyone else had expected to be there, front and centre – Laxus Dreyar. The blonde ass had arrived shortly after Erza herself had, what's more, he had sat next to her without comment, not even as much as a disapproving look came her way. She would have questioned him had she not been quickly dragged away to greet and meet some of the other guild masters who were attending the funeral. Even when the ceremony had gotten underway and the priest had softly requested she and Laxus both say something the blonde had remained silent and seated.

Erza had stood, of course, she'd made her way to the podium before Makarov's coffin but as she'd turned around to face all those people staring at her, she just stopped cold. Words left her and tears fell freely. From both eyes. Gray had quickly stood and pulled her back to her seat, letting Mr Yajima take the attention of the crowd as he regaled them with stories of the old days.

Not long after Gray and Natsu alongside Erza herself and Elfman stood as they would carry the casket to its appointed grave. Laxus stopped her, however, giving her a pointed look before taking her place. She'd almost boiled over with rage at that point – how _dare_ he pull such a stunt after his actions a few days before. The funeral was not the place to make her feelings clear, though. Instead, she returned his pointed look with one of rage but backed down before starting a scene. Her message that she would deal with him later deadly clear.

It was at that point that the ceremony at large came to an end, as only the guild and Makarov's close friends would attend the actual burial. In comparison the burial must've been a hundred times worse than the funeral as with the numbers so greatly reduced, there was no one to really save face in front of and tears had fallen freely.

So it was with one last pat of a shovel on dirt that, at eleven sixteen in the morning on August twenty-second that Makarov Dreyar was laid to rest, and allowed to pass on peacefully as he was buried next to his late wife. Not long after most of the guild moved away from the graveyard, heading in the direction of one of the local inns that had agreed to rent itself out so they had a place to hold the wake, but Erza stood vigilant at the Master's grave.

The tombstone was a simple affair, a pillar of sanded white marble stone with a bronze piece in the shape of the Fairy Tail emblem set into the stop on a small pole. It read:

 _Makarov Dreyar_

 _X696 – X784_

 _Beloved father of many, his parting leaves a hole in the world._

 _We shall never forget the lessons he taught us._

Erza could only hope the last part would stay true.

In the end, she stood there for a long time, simply rereading the words on the stone over and over again. They didn't do the man justice. Then again no prose, poem or even thousand-page story could really do justice to Master Makarov. _Watch over us Master, we need your guidance now more than ever. Some more so than others._

And almost as if to prove her point, when she finally turned around to finally join the rest of the guild, there stood Laxus. The shock was the first thing that hit her; how long had he been there? Had he left and come back or was he there the entire time she was? How could he bring himself to actually show his face after everything he had said three days ago?

So many questions and so much rage bubbled within Erza at the sight of the blonde. Looking over her shoulder, though, she knew she could not have the argument that was about to ensue happen there. Marching in her heels as best she could, the shorter of the two temporary guild masters stored past the blonde and out of the graveyard, Laxus a step behind her the entire time if the crunch of gravel was anything to go by.

"How dare you show your face here!" Erza said in a hissed whisper as she spun on her heel when they exited the graveyard at long last. Her hair fluttering behind her in the breeze as her eyes narrowed. Laxus being the ass he was rolled his eyes in response, folding his arms over his chest.

"Are you for real, Scarlet?" he sneered at her as though she were a child. "First you get pissed because I don't care, but when I actually bother to show up you get even more pissed! Make up your damn mind already, woman."

"What I expect if for you to actually give a damn!"

"I'm here aren't I?"

"Only because of the conclusions that might be drawn if you weren't." Laxus let out a grunt in retort, a slight moment of surprise spreading across his face as she seemed to have guessed correctly. If anything that only made her even angrier. How dare he try and use his grandfather's funeral to make himself look better with the other official's in attendance. That was why he wouldn't let her help carry out the casket!

Before she could tear into him, though, they were interrupted by a sharp, deliberate cough. Looking past the blonde, Erza saw that Mystogan of all people now stood, leaning against the wall of the building just behind them. It was a startling experience, to say the least – she'd not seen the other s-class wizard in some time, he only let anyone besides Laxus and the Master see him when he wanted to be seen. Even then Laxus only got to see him because he had a strange resistances to the other wizard's sleep magic.

"Am I interrupting?" the male wizard asked dryly, clearly knowing the answer already. Laxus glared and Erza could only mouth silently as she tried to come up with some sort of explanation. "I'm glad to see that Master Makarov has finally be laid to rest. Seeing his successors squabble in the street, however, is something I'm not sure he would appreciate."

Erza could feel her face go flush, Laxus however just snorted and rolled his eyes – not in the mood for dealing with Mystogan any more than the redhead was apparently.

"Everyone in the guild is wondering where the two of you are," the masked wizard said plainly, folding his arms over his chest as he walked past them both, where he was headed nobody knew. Odds were they wouldn't be seeing him again anytime soon either. "It would do you both good to remember that everyone in the guild is now looking to you to lead. At least try and pretend to know what you're doing."

Erza bristled at the comment, did Mystogan really not think they both knew that? Yet when she turned to tell him such, perhaps remind him that he had no ground to stand on when it came to being there for the guild she found he had disappeared in a swish of tattered black fabric. Perfect, she thought, that was just what she'd needed at that moment.

"Self-righteous bastard," Laxus muttered and, to her horror, Erza agreed. Maybe that was the point of the comment, the redhead thought if they could agree on something, even if it was anger at another guild member, they could stop bickering long enough to get to the rest of the guild.

Men, Erza thought with a roll of her eyes as she stormed past Laxus.

Erza made her way to the bar with no further incident but that might have been down to the fact that Laxus seemed to be to laying low for a while following their argument and Mystogan had disappeared as he had a tendency to do and Erza was left to face the guild alone. Thankfully much of the guild had broken off into their own little groups that slowly dwindled over the course of the afternoon. The redheaded knight only talked with people briefly, many of them talking about how they hoped she would be the new guild master when the Magic Council deliberation came to a conclusion.

Natsu, Happy and Gray had all sat with Shadow Gear and Elfman and where one of the last groups to leave the wake. Erza herself had been thinking about getting ready to leave herself as she bid the last guest goodbye when the sound of creaking floorboards caused her to turn around and find Ultear, followed by a less than pleased looking Laxus.

Ultear gave one of her coy, almost predatory smiles before greeting her; "Ah, Erza," she spoke in her usual tone of what Erza assumed was faux-politeness, "I've been looking for you; if I could borrow you for a few moments I have something important to discuss with you and Laxus both." Knowing she didn't exactly have much of a choice in the matter, Erza nodded before gesturing to the table where she had spent most of her time that afternoon.

"Now," Ultear began without some much as blinking as all three seated themselves, "I am certain that you are both aware of the fact that this weekend coming is the regular guild master's meeting, yes?" Both Erza and Laxus nodded, although the blonde honestly only looked to be half listening. "Now, given recent circumstances, there was a discussion of possibly postponing the meeting but I feel that it presents an immediate chance for me to start evaluating the both of you, which is why the meeting will go ahead and both of you will attend the meeting."

Internally, Erza groaned. She had honestly hoped to avoid attending the guild master's regular end of month meeting unless completely necessary. Truth be told from Makarov had told her the meetings were often pointless and tedious as the various guild masters' gave reports concerning their guild's activities, quest success percentage and other meaningless statics. Her time could have been much better spent with the guild helping rebuild.

"You don't look too pleased by this, Erza," Ultear said softly, an amused smile painted across her face. Erza could feel herself flush, Laxus making no effort to hide his smug expression as he stared at her, knowing she was now in the hot seat.

"Forgive me, Councilwoman," Erza shook her head clear, stealing her expression as she did her best to ignore the blonde across from her, "I just feel as though this isn't a smart use of our time. Whilst I understand the need and importance of the regular meeting, I just think right now Laxus and I should be prioritising the guild and its reconstruction instead of duties that would take us out of Magnolia."

"I agree," Ultear nodded, confusing the redhead, "which is why I feel this meeting will serve as such an excellent test in more than one way. Now that everything is settled," the dark haired wizard added as she stood up, folding her arms behind her back, "I expect to see you both bright and early at the train station first thing on Friday morning - platform two, bound for Amaryllis. Until then please _do_ take care."

Erza could feel her blood go cold at the announcement the guild master's meeting would take place in Amaryllis. Looking to Laxus, she wanted to scream; demand to know if he had known anything about this. Judging by his stony expression she guessed the answer would have been no, he was probably no more excited to go back than she was. His expression cracked a little when she looked him the eye, his face going a nasty shade of grey. Amyrillis was an old shame for them both, albeit for different reasons. This had to be some sort of twisted joke Ultear was playing on both of them.

Grunting, Laxus looked over to glare at the barmaid, a silent glare demanding she bring him something strong and alcoholic, quickly. Erza said little as they waited for the blondes drink, neither party making an attempt to avoid eye contact. It took a lot for Erza just to remain seated; a part of her feeling quite within her rights to do so after Laxus had had the gall to show up at the funeral but then ran when it was time to mingle with the many guests at the wake. This could honestly be the blonde's problem and she would carry on with the reconstruction of the guild hall.

"Let's make this quick," Laxus said as he slammed the tankard he'd be brought back down onto the table after downing half of it, "I sure as hell don't want to go to Amyrillis and sure as hell would bet good money you don't want to go either." Erza was pointedly silent but nodded with a great deal of effort. "Then I say the dark haired bitch can go fuck herself. She can't really kick up a fuss if neither of us shows up."

Erza scowled, folding her arms over her chest as she stared at Laxus for a long moment. This man, she thought, made no sense whatsoever. He had been nothing but hostile to her for the longest time, even when not outwardly antagonistic towards her he always had an agenda and now he was ready to stand together on this of all things? No, Laxus always had an agenda and this was no different. She suspected this was Laxus trying to subtly nudge her into not going, showing up himself and looking all the better because of her absences. It was cheap and rather obvious, but nevertheless, Erza might have done the same if she thought she could get away with it. The difference was she didn't underestimate Laxus' intelligence.

"If either of us is to become guild master," Erza said with careful thought put into each word, "then we must learn to do duties we'd much rather not. If we can't even do this much then how can we be expected to lead?"

"This is your last chance to just walk away, Scarlet."

"I'll see you at the guild tomorrow, Laxus." Erza saw Laxus' expression tighten at her words, the tankard in his hand creaking under the pressure with which it was gripped, but the blonde made not attempt to stop her as she stood. There were no snide remarks as she walked out the door, but there was an understanding: neither of them wanted to look bad whilst Ultear watched them closely, but as soon as the woman turned her back there would be violence. There would be war.

* * *

Ultear Milkovich

Ultear's eyes opened as the thought projection took shape in the dim light of _Seigrain's_ office. The man or rather other projection in question was slouched in his large, high-backed chair with his feet on the desk. Out of the corner of her eye, the leader of the Seven Kin of Purgatory could see another figure lurking in the shadow wrapped in a dark purple cloak with an over-sized, cliché witch's hat casting their face into darkness. Given how the cloak draped the figure it was impossible to even guess the gender of the stranger, but given their height and their shoulders, Ultear would've guessed it a woman.

Still, Ultear paid them no real attention as she turned to look at Jellal, "Do you mind explaining to me why you've stepped in and changed the location of the guild master's regular meeting at the last minute?"

"Circumstances have changed, Ultear," Jellal said plainly as he rolled his shoulders, cupping his hands behind his head, "with Makarov's death the original plan can no longer go forward as planned - not after you decided to have Erza become one of the candidates for the title of Fairy's Tail next guild master. As an acting guild master, the only time she'll leave Magnolia is for things such as this. What's more our new friend behind you has recently come to me with an offer, an enticing one at that."

"Offer?" Ultear repeated, looking over her shoulder towards the stranger, eyes narrowing. She didn't like this. As Jellal's puppet master she had all encompassing control over the man so long as she could guide him correctly - with taking direct control and revealing her identity to the man - she could only use powerful suggestion magic to make him do her bidding. This shouldn't have been possible. Either her control was slipping or someone else had interfered.

"Nothing that should concern you, my dear Ultear," Jellal smirked and she turned to look at him - a mounting dread now rising up her spine. Did Jellal know? He would never withhold information from her before this. "All you need to know is that Siebte Übel has agreed to a short-term partnership with us. They will deliver Erza to us, _alive_ ," he stressed, looking past Ultear to the woman in the corner, "as well as playing the role of our villains in the R-System incident which will allow me to continue my work under the radar."

"And what do Siebte Übel get out of this?"

"Vengeance." The now confirmed woman hissed, Ultear looking to her for a moment puzzled as something in her found the woman's voice oddly familiar. Shaking the thought off, she thought back over the past few years - there was no shared history between the dark guild and Fairy Tail. So what was this vengeance? "Makarov took much from me and even if the old man isn't here to see it, I can still burn his legacy to the ground. If anything I never would've dared go after Makarov myself but with him gone his guild will make a perfect example for those that think they can fight against Tartarus and it's sub-guilds."

"So you work for Tartarus?"

"I am _part_ of Tartarus." The woman replied and Ultear looked to Jellal, now knowing he was up to something outside of her control. This reeked of set up and Ultear would be damned if she would be usurped by a weak-willed fool like Jellal. Not that he even knew what he could take from her if he was actually successful in whatever he was scheming. No, she looked between the two - the treachours council member and the member of Tartarus - she would play along for them, but only until she knew what was really going on. Then she would destroy both of them. Jellal had long since outlived his usefulness.

"Very well," she turned back to Jellal fully, looking him in the eye, "what exactly is the plan moving forward, _my lord_?"

* * *

 **A/N:** I return, at long last, with a small offering before uni ends next month and I have free time to write my stories. This story isn't dead and things should hopefully start picking up next chapter which should drop at some time in May. Until then enjoy guys.


	7. Rogue Variables

**Matter of Succession**

 **VII**

* * *

 _Rogue Variables_

* * *

Levy McGarden

 **August 23** **rd** **, X784**

Levy normally did what she could to avoid being pulled into the more eccentric antics of the guild, but there was little she could do to avoid this situation. At the very edge of Magnolia, she stood, head hung in regret as she held Happy in her arms whilst Natsu and Gray stood on either side of her, glaring at each over the top of her head.

"Remind me why you're here again, Snow Cone?" Natsu grumbled.

"You really think I'm going to let you bankrupt poor Levy, Lizard Boy?" Gray shot back, folding his arms over his chest as Natsu's face became a portrait of outrage. Honestly, those two could fight over just about anything, Levy thought silently, wondering where she had gone wrong in life.

It'd all start when she'd arrived at the guild that morning to choose a mission for herself and Natsu, who she'd meet with afterwards. It'd been more of a challenge than she'd expected, given how she'd wanted something that Natsu would enjoy without serious risk – meaning most of Shadow Gears usual options were immediately ruled out. In the end, Levy opted for a routine monster control mission that asked them to deal with a pack of rust monsters that had set up home on the fringes of Oak Town now Phantom Lord was gone. With most, if not all of Phantom's missions now coming to Fairy Tail it'd seemed like a good choice; rust monsters weren't overly nasty and Natsu would be able to let off some steam without being in trouble of reinjuring himself after his fight with Gajeel. It also meant that property damage should hopefully be minimal.

Gray had caught her as Mirajane had handed back the mission slip with an approval stamp and a wane smile as the white-haired barmaid was still not herself. Her conversation with the Ice-Make wizard had been brief as she'd explained where she was going. He'd taken one long look at her and then taken a second to look at the mission slip he himself had been carrying. He'd handed it back to the Mirajane before declaring he was now going with Natsu and Levy instead.

"You can't seriously think going to Oak Town with Natsu of all people is a good idea?" He'd asked her as they headed to meet up with Natsu and Happy. "I mean, they aren't going to be friendly towards you in the first place after Phantom Lord was disbanded but letting Natsu go there is asking for trouble."

"What do you mean?" Levy had asked, genuinely curious as to why Gray thought it was a bad idea.

"Oak Town will blame us for what happened to Phantom Lord," Gray said like it was obvious, "they're just like Magnolia, the guild was a huge source of income for the town and now it's gone. Things will take a while to adjust as they look for a way to deal with the loss and then a bunch of Fairy Tail wizards show up? One with a talent for property destruction? That's money they don't have, and we don't need to give them more reasons to hate the guild."

Levy wouldn't lie, Gray had a point and the thought hadn't crossed her mind. Still, unpleasant townsfolk weren't something new. Dealing with difficult clients was a part of the job. Levy suspected Gray wanted to come to make sure Natsu didn't overexert himself and reinjure himself. She didn't bother asking as he'd deny the idea until the end of time, so she had accepted the offer without protest.

Now here they were.

" _Boys_." They both looked down at her, taken aback by the firmness of her tone, "I'm in charge of this mission as Natsu's chaperon and I say Gray can come –" Gray smiled smugly whilst Natsu looked aghast, "–on the condition you also do as I say, Gray and don't antagonise Natsu." The dark-haired wizard's smug expression fell away as he considered his options for a moment, but he eventually nodded.

"Fine." Natsu agreed when Levy looked up at him for a response, "the Ice Princess can come." The rosette said nothing more, stuffing his hands into his pockets and walking off ahead of everyone else.

Something in the pit of Levy's stomach twisted, maybe she shouldn't have let Gray come. Nevertheless, they all followed Natsu without any further conversation.

"He was really looking forward to this, wasn't he?" Levy asked Happy quietly. It took a while for the blue Exceed to look up at her and nod a reply. Oh. She'd _really_ messed up.

"Natsu was excited to go on a mission with _you_." The way he spoke left little to doubt he meant _only_ her. Levy never would have thought Natsu would be that excited to work with her of all people; their skillsets weren't exactly complimentary, and their idea of an exciting mission could not be more different. "He feels guilty for what happened with Gajeel and wanted to make it up to you."

"Wait, what?" Levy blinked, stopping for a moment so she could lift Happy to face her properly. "Natsu wasn't even there though, how could he feel guilty over that?"

"Gajeel hurt you," Happy shrugged, "and Jet, and Droy, and Lucy too. Natsu wanted to make him pay for hurting the guild and he lost when he needed to win the most. He thinks he should have done more; that he should have been able to defeat the other Phantom Lord wizards sooner without some many people getting hurt."

"That's stupid." Levy scowled uncharacteristically, "Natsu did everything he could, and I'd never blame him for what happened with Gajeel. No one does. Did he tell you all this, Happy?"

"Not in exact words," Happy explained, "but even if he won't admit it his confidence took a big hit recently and I think he wants to do a mission with you to not only get his confidence back but to help you get _yours_ back."

"Excuses me?" Levy stammered, looking around to see that Gray and Natsu were still walking ahead of her, neither having noticed she was lagging slightly.

"Everyone's noticed, Levy," Happy said like it was the most obvious thing ever, "you're a lot more on edge recently and you've been sticking to larger groups when you can. You always leave before dark, too. Natsu just wants you to help you out."

Had she been so blindly obvious? Of course, she had been, she chided herself, she'd been extra jittery after the attack and whilst she'd wanted to hide the fact she wasn't exactly a good actor. Yet instead of bringing it up and pitying her, Natsu had instead asked her on a mission to help her find her confidence as a wizard again.

"Oh, Natsu…" _Thank you._

"Hey, Levy, we should catch up." Oh, right, the boys.

Nodding her head, she scampered after both Natsu and Gray, thankful that even with her short legs they weren't that far ahead of her. Maybe they had noticed her lagging after all. When she caught up neither of her companions made much of a show of it, instead of staying silent. When Natsu looked over his shoulder at her though she suspected he'd heard some of her conversation with Happy – Dragon Slayer hearing was rather impressive - she smiled at him, grateful for the kind gesture. When he smiled back she knew he'd already forgiven her laps in letting Gray come along.

"I didn't expect you be going on missions again so soon," Levy said, deciding to make conversation with Gray as they walked, "I mean you've been Erza's right hand since she and Laxus were put in charge of the guild."

"Yeah," Gray's said with a frustrated shrug, "well, having to deal with Erza and Laxus arguing all the time got old real fast. I mean I know they go to the Regular Meeting with Ultear tomorrow, but they could be worse when they come back so I wanna enjoy the peace and quiet whilst I can."

"Peace and quiet? Natsu?" Happy spoke up, sounding smug as he suppressed a laugh, "Pick one or the other, Gray."

Gray didn't try to hide his own laugh, but Levy was more interested in something else that Gray had said. Taking a note from Happy's book, she leaned in towards the Ice-Make wizard with a smug look.

" _Ultear_? When did you get so cosy with the councilwoman, Gray?"

"He _likes_ her." Happy said with a roll of the tongue and now everyone aside from Gray was laughing.

"It ain't like that," Gray scowled as he tried to hide his bright red face, "Ultear is my old master's daughter. My teacher thought she was dead, I did too."

"Awfully lively for a dead woman," Happy quipped, tone still teasing and Levy had to admit she was enjoying this a little more than she should. It was so strange seeing the normally calm and cool Gray getting wound up over a girl. Levy had seen many girls take interest in Gray but the dark-haired wizard had never batted an eye despite all the attention he seemed to be lavished in. A part of Levy had begun to wonder if that was because his heart was already set on a particular girl.

"Yeah," Gray glared back at the Exceed, "well, I figured there was something shifty going on with her and my interrogation didn't exactly help matters either."

"You think she's up to something?" Levy said in surprise.

"Well, she's playing Laxus and Erza off against each other pretty well." Happy deadpanned. "It's not like the Magic Council is exactly fond of us."

"Oh, come on Happy, yes," Levy rolled her eyes, "she's a member of Magic Council, and yes, whilst what she's doing with Laxus and Erza isn't what I'd call professional I'm sure it's part of her examination. The Magic Council might not like us, or we them, but they aren't _evil_. Right, Gray?"

"I'd be lying if I said I wasn't suspicious at first too," Gray admitted as he ruffled his hair, "but then I spoke to her off hours and she seemed like a different person. More relaxed and less, I dunno, less conniving. Still, don't know if I trust her yet but I don't suspect her of anything outright malicious right now at least. Pretty sure she just enjoys messing with Laxus and Erza."

"I don't trust her." Natsu said, surprising everyone, "She smells like that guy from Galuna Island: the same perfume."

"Wearing the same perfume is hardly proof of anything, Natsu," Levy said; she'd spoken, albeit rather briefly, with the woman at the wake the previous day and she too had noticed the woman's perfume because she owned a bottle of the very same brand that she occasional wore on more expensive dates _._ "You're being paranoid."

"Maybe, but she's planning something." Gray looked like he wanted to disagree but at the same time, he nodded slightly.

 _Boys_ , Levy thought with a roll of her eyes. Thankfully the subject faded away as Gray and Natsu started up a conversation about other things. Both seemed keen to discuss how recent events might affect the end of year S-Class exams - or if there would be any at all this year given recent events.

Meanwhile, Happy flew alongside her and the Exceed was hardly one for silence as he had a request of his own: "Levy, you can make fire with your magic, right?"

"I can."

"Could you teach me?" Well she hadn't been expecting that.

"You want to learn Solid Script?" That certainly wasn't something she'd expected to hear today. It was good, Levy decided when she got over the shock of the request: Exceed were naturally magical creatures and if Happy applied himself he could pick up just about any magic he wanted too. He would never be as powerful as a human wizard, but his magical affinity would help him learn faster than most "Why the sudden interest? You've never shown any real desire to learn much magic before."

"When Natsu fought Aria and Gajeel I couldn't help," Happy said meekly, "Aria would drain him and I couldn't stop it. When Gajeel took a big hit he just started munching on nearby metal but there was no fire around for Natsu to eat. I don't want him to ever be in a fight like that again. I need to be able to help him."

Levy nodded, smiling at how determined the blue Exceed looked in that moment. Truthfully though, she was uncertain if Solid Script was the kind of magic that Happy was looking for. She couldn't just so no to him, though. There were other alternatives.

"I'm not sure Solid Script is the magic you're looking for," Levy said but carried on before Happy could think she was rejecting him, "I mean it's a good support magic, true. But I think with the kind of wizard Natsu is you'd need something a little more combat capable than what I could teach you to do with Solid Script – which can be used for combat but requires massive amounts of magic and uses a window system of aggression that is very dangerous if not used correctly."

"Really?" Happy blinked.

"My teacher taught me how," Levy nodded, clasping her hands behind her back, "but honestly I don't know what would happen if I tried to use it the way he showed me. I've always wanted to try but I've always been kind of scared to. Maybe Mira or Elfman would be able to teach you a bit of Takeover magic that would be more suited for combat and could help you support Natsu better."

"I tried transformation-based magic once," Happy muttered, "I wasn't very good at it."

"Well," Levy smiled reassuringly, "Regardless of what magic you try and learn I'll be there to help you. Who knows, maybe I'll be your study partner and try and learn it with you."

Happy beamed at her, and Levy was glad she could help. Maybe it wasn't in the way Happy had asked but after the war with Phantom Lord she could understand his desire to get stronger, so others could depend on him. Maybe it was time she stopped being so scared of combat side of Solid Script and got strong enough so that others could depend on her also.

The blue-haired wizard caught Natsu shooting a brief glance over his shoulder and she knew instantly he'd heard all her conversation with Happy. Levy offered the rosette a smile and a wave, glad to see his mood had improved as he returned the smile with enthusiasm.

Maybe the mission wouldn't go so badly after all. Who knew, she might end up enjoying herself.

* * *

"This ain't no rust monster we're dealing with." Natsu stated as he squatted next to a pile of half-eaten junk. Levy had really hoped Natsu wouldn't say that, but what little information the Oak Town mayor had given them had led her to suspect as much. Gray raised an eyebrow as he examined his own piece of half-eaten debris.

"How can you tell?"

"There's no sign of corrosion where the teeth marks are." Natsu shrugged one shoulder as he stood up, beating Levy to the punch. "Me, Elfman and Lisanna did a job dealing with rust monsters a while back. After that mess, I'd recognise anything damaged by a rust monster a mile off from the smell alone. Nothing in this junkyard smells like a rust monster."

"What do you smell?" Levy asked.

Natsu's moment of hesitation was all Levy needed to figure it out for herself. "Gajeel."

"Why the hell would he come back here?" Gray asked and Levy started to wonder if the town mayor had known all along who was really causing all the disturbances on the outskirts of town. It'd make some level of sense; Oak Town owed a lot to the business Phantom Lord had brought in over the years, but they couldn't just let Gajeel squat forever. Bringing in guild wizards would flush him out and drive him away and he'd likely escape as a result of the misinformation.

"It's familiar," Levy said, knowing that she'd defiantly want to go somewhere she felt safe in Gajeel's shoes, "gives him a place to lie low whilst he figures out his next move."

"So, what's our next move?" Gray slipped his hands into his pockets and Levy looked to Natsu and Happy to measure their response.

"We find him and kick his ass!" Natsu declared and Levy wished she taken a different job as the boys fell into an argument over what to do. Pinching the bridge of her nose, Levy tried to figure out what the right thing to do was; they'd accepted this job after all and whilst the details had changed, they couldn't just quit – that wasn't what Makarov had taught them. On the other hand, she really wasn't sure she could deal with the Iron Dragon Slayer so soon after their last encounter.

"Not everyone is as eager as you are for a rematch, Natsu!" Gray shouted back as the argument escalated and Levy did not miss his aside glance in her direction. A part of her felt a little insulted at how little Gray seemed to think of her – although he wasn't wrong, and she'd be happy if she never saw Gajeel again.

"This ain't like last time," Natsu shook his head, "we agreed to do this job and we can't just walk away. We got to deal with Gajeel or we can't call ourselves members of Fairy Tail!" Levy blinked at the Dragon Slayer's declaration, curious to know if he realised just how right he was. She recalled Happy's remark about regaining lost confidence – her and Natsu both – and it made sense if they didn't face this now then they might never do and she could never truly move forward until she dealt with Gajeel and what he'd done to her.

"Both of you, enough!" Levy shouted in order, and to her great surprise, they both went silent. Feeling a little uncertain when the pair suddenly stared at her, Levy drew herself as tall as she could before taking a deep breath. "Natsu's right – we agreed to do this job and even if the object has changed, we never leave a job unfinished."

Gray stared at her with silent amazement for a moment before he masked his expression, but the short wizard could swear she saw his respect for increase dramatically. Natsu offered her a smile, walking and placing a hand on his shoulder. He didn't say anything, and Levy found she appreciated that more than anything she thought he might say at that moment. She wasn't the only one that needed to do this, she reminded herself as she placed one of her own hands on Natsu's.

A moment later and Gray gave a very deliberate cough. Levy felt herself go flush and she saw Natsu roll his eyes as Happy sniggered at their feet. Her blush would've matched Erza's hair when Happy declared that she liked Natsu and she was subconsciously scrambling to put some distance between herself and the Dragon Slayer. Out of the corner of her eye, she caught Natsu looked rather amused by her reaction to Happy's declaration and she glowered at him and he smiled back when she stuck her tongue out at him.

"So, eh, Natsu," she cleared her throat, hoping she was back to a more normal colour now, "you can track Gajeel by smell, right?" the rosette nodded his head as he pointed back in the direction of Oak Town itself.

"It's pretty strong here," Natsu explained, gesturing back to the half-eaten pile of junk, "he's been here a few days at least but he's not the only one. There are a few other scents; one is the weird one that's been stalking Gray for the past couple of days, but I don't recognise the other two."

"Someone's been stalking me?" Gray demanded, sound a little unnerved by the idea.

"Yeah, that girl you fought during the war with Phantom," Natsu shrugged as though it was obvious, "you had her scent on you after the fighting was done and it's been following around until a day or two ago."

"Maybe Ultear was right about her…" Gray murmured to himself and Levy had to question what exactly that statement meant. But when Natsu suddenly tensed, Levy knew something was about to happen, but she'd never have guessed that a young boy would come around the corner of one junk pile to face them.

A young boy who couldn't be much older than eleven or twelve stared at them with apprehension. His clothes looked rather ragged and a little big for him, probably second hand, which caused to look awfully thin and his skin looked unhealthy pale and dirt-streaked. His hair was a mess of black that hid his face slightly and left only one of his red eyes visible. Behind him coward an exceedingly small green-furred Exceed that caught them all by surprise.

"Are you here to help Gajeel?" the boy asked.

"Gajeel needs help?" Gray rolled his eyes, tone not helping.

Levy shot him a reprimanding look; whilst Gajeel was hardly likeable that was no reason to be rude to the young boy, who might be able to tell them were the former Phantom Lord wizard was hiding.

"We are looking for Gajeel, yes," Levy said as walked over to the boy, slowly as to not startle him. When she reached him she knelt down in front of him, tentatively placing a hand on his shoulder to make contact. When the boy didn't pull away instantly she smiled at him. "Do you know where he is?"

"Something came to speak to Gajeel the day before yesterday," the boy said quietly, and Levy was very interested in the choice of words. Both Natsu and Gray seemed to catch on as well as they swapped a look but let the boy continue his story. "Gajeel didn't know I was here; I was downwind, but it wasn't that I was trying to eavesdrop! It just sort of happened…"

"What did the thing say?" Levy asked with a gentle smile as she gave the boy's shoulder a reassuring squeeze.

"It offered to help him get revenge against Fairy Tail; against you." The boy looked to Natsu directly now. So he knew who they, or at least Natsu, were. The Dragon Slayer looked a little confused as to why Gajeel would want revenge against him considering he'd won their last battle. "He refused. Said he didn't need anyone's help to kick Salamander's ass. The thing didn't like that answer, it did something to him and he hasn't come back since. Are you going to fight Gajeel?"

"Only if he starts it," Levy assured the boy. Smiling, she decided she needed to build some trust with the boy and that meant she couldn't instantly start asking about where Gajeel had gone. The boy clearly looked up to the dark Dragon Slayer and if he thought they were a threat to him she needed to convince him otherwise so they could get to the bottom of this. "What are your names?"

"Rogue," the boy said meekly before looking down at the small Exceed, "and this is Frosch."

"Levy," Natsu squatted down next to her just as she was about to introduce herself, "something is burning in Oak Town; a fire. A big one." The way he said it put her own edge – she knew he had a keen sense of smell, but this was ridiculous. If there really was a fire somewhere nearby then it was no doubt a trap of set by Gajeel to lure them out to somewhere he was more comfortable fighting; somewhere he had the advantage.

Gray questioned Natsu, only for a loud roar of flames to shoot up from somewhere near the centre of Oak Town. _Wow_ , Levy thought, Natsu's nose really was that good after all.

"What? I didn't do it!" Natsu snapped as everyone turned back to look at him, awed by his ability to detect the fire.

"No, you didn't," Levy shook her head, it looked like they didn't have a choice now, "Happy stay here with Rogue and Frosch whilst we go and help contain the fire." The blue Exceed gave a determined nod as he puffed out his chest, ready to accept this duty.

"That's a good idea!" Happy agreed, "you can count on Happy!"

"Frosch thinks so too."

"Alright, dinner is served!" Natsu shot off in the direction of the now spreading fire before anyone could say anything else. Levy could tell from the rosette's excitement he suspected Gajeel was behind it and he would get his rematch after all. The blue haired scribe could only hope that Gajeel was the worst of what await them in the depths of Oak Town.


	8. Rumination on Ruination

**Matter of Succession**

 **VIII**

* * *

 _Rumination on Ruination_

* * *

Erza Scarlet

 **August 24** **th** **, X784**

All things considered, the previous day had been shockingly uneventful by recent standards. Not that she was hoping for something to happen; but Laxus' inaction only served to fuel Erza's paranoia. The blonde had been unnaturally silent the day before and instead settled for glaring at her when their eyes met, only making the odd snide remark. Erza suspected that with Ultear watching their every move the Lightning wizard was keeping a low profile so as not to damage his chances of becoming the next guild master.

Whilst Laxus' sudden silence troubled her, the thing that really bothered Erza was Mirajane had become unnaturally cold towards her the past few days. Whatever Laxus had said to upset her involved Erza as every time Mirajane now looked at her eyes showed hurt and betrayal, but at there was something else there, buried deep. The few attempts Erza had made to talk with Mirajane had been pointedly ignored, the guild's unofficial mother hen claiming that neither of them had the time for idle chatter, not masking her desire to get away from the redhead as fast as possible.

If there had been one bright spot following Makarov's funeral, it had been Natsu's infectious enthusiasm. That was shorted lived when he, Happy, and Levy, and Gray had all departed on a job together early the day following the funeral. Whilst the rust monster job would hardly present a challenge for Natsu, Erza was glad Levy had at least picked a mission the Dragon Slayer would enjoy without overexerting himself.

Unlike her one-time teammate though, the redheaded knight would not be enjoying her next few days. Despite the ungodly hour, she stood in Magnolia train station, Laxus slouched on a nearby bench whilst Ultear sat atop her own suitcase, reading a book as they waited for the train to begin boarding. These were the last two people she wanted to spend any amount of time with but now she'd be stuck with them both until Sunday evening provided everything ran on time.

Still, Erza couldn't help but feel like Ultear was just as reluctant to be attending the guild master's regular meeting as she and Laxus were. A rather sudden turnaround given she'd been rather amused by the scene when she'd initially told them of the trip. Erza could not help but be suspicious of what had caused the sudden change in attitude.

Something was decidedly wrong.

"You seem rather on edge, _Master_ Erza," blinking slowly, shaking her mind free of fog, Erza realised she must've been staring at Ultear. The councilwoman met her gaze with an all to friendly smile, her book closed on her lap and her hands clasped atop it. The dark-haired woman had taken to calling her and Laxus both by the title of master in the past day – claiming that the other guild masters present would no doubt do the same out of formality and it was something they needed to get used to. It didn't mean Erza liked it any better.

"Apologises, Councilwoman," Erza shook her head, wishing she could figure out what was going on behind those dark eyes, "I'm afraid I have not been sleeping well these last few nights."

"Any particular reason?" To an outsider, it might have seemed like a perfectly normal question to ask, but Erza knew better. Ultear was more than aware of what had happened last time she and Laxus had been to Amaryllis – the council hearing that had followed was the first time Erza had ever met the woman.

"Bad… _dreams_ ," Erza said with a forced politeness she wasn't used to having to muster, "nothing serious, I assure you." Out of the corner of her eyes, the redhead saw Laxus scowl. Their eyes meet for a moment and in that second she knew that Laxus' sickly complexion had nothing to do with the idea of travelling on a train but his own nightmares. It was oddly reassuring to think that even Laxus wasn't above the scars that Amaryllis had left them with. He was only human.

Still, to think anyone would want to rebuild that damned town was mind-boggling.

Years on when the nightmares had hit her the previous evening Erza found herself recalling the smell of burning wood, the taste of blood in her mouth and the agony of broken bones as screams echoed in far of reaches of the town. Then when she closed her eyes, she could see him: the body that Gale Belserion had possessed leaning over her, one foot on her dented armour as he rested an elbow on his elevated knee, his demonic right arm clinging tightly to her sword which rested on his shoulder whilst he laughed manically.

" _Is this really all the heir of Belserion has to offer?"_ He sneered down at her, licking his lips in anticipation of the kill as he continued with his mad ramblings, _"How pathetically meagre the witch's daughter proved herself to be, to think Mother and His Highness were worried about you becoming a problem."_

"Well, I'm sure they'll be plenty of time for you to rest on the train," Ultear said offhandedly, snapping Erza out of her thoughts as the train announced that boarding had begun. Erza nodded but made no real effort to reply as she quickly gathered her belongings. Truthfully Erza would rather not sleep if she could help it – not when all she saw when she closed her eyes was Gale's face as he bled out at her feet, his face twisted into one last grin of triumph, his dying words a promise that they would meet again. "We have a long journey ahead of us after all."

 _Yes,_ Erza thought as she forced herself to board the train behind Ultear, _we do._

* * *

Perhaps she really was becoming paranoid, Erza thought as the train ride rolled into its second hour with nothing even remotely eventful having taken place. She sat with Ultear and Laxus in a private first-class cabin, a rather strange experience for her, but the blonde sat slumped against the window opposite her, earphones raging but eyes closed and breath shallow, totally asleep. Ultear had returned to her book, occasionally set it aside to attend to some paperwork she had brought with her. There was little doubt it had to do with her evaluation and she was making little effort to hide it.

It took her a moment to realise, but Erza blinked when Ultear turned to her with a smile – she'd been caught staring it seemed – but the councilwoman did seem perturbed by it. Instead, she closed her book once more, certainly a great deal more relaxed than she had been earlier at the train station.

"Is something on your mind, Master Erza?" Ultear asked plainly, bring up her hands so she could rest her chin on them. This woman made no sense to Erza, every time the redhead thought she was close to peeling back a layer and figuring out something Ultear seemed ready to flip things around because gone was the faux, tauntingly polite tone and instead there was a sense of genuine curiosity and friendliness. "I imagine returning to Amaryllis isn't exactly appealing to you."

"It is not," Erza agreed with a nod, but her tone was guarded even to her own ears. The redhead sighed, casting her eyes down for a moment as she scolded herself for her lack of restraint. It was true that Ultear had not always been the kindest of individuals, as she seemed to enjoy watching others squirm for her own amusement, but she had never been outright antagonistic towards anyone in Fairy Tail that the knight knew of – maybe it was time to take the olive branch offered to her. "A wizard's first s-class mission is always meant to stay with them, however, my first was not something I wish to remember."

Ultear gave a low hum as she tented her fingers, "I never did fully understand why Amaryllis."

"Excuse me?" Erza almost did a double take at how callous Ultear sounded.

"Forgive me," the councilwoman held up a hand, "what I mean to ask is why was Gale Belserion in Amaryllis in the first place; what made it so special."

"You heard the report first hand," Erza said pointedly, hoping that Ultear would take the hint and not push this matter further. Given the woman's actions until then though she doubted she would let go so easily; the dark-haired woman seemed intent on pushing for answers but for once Erza didn't feel like the intent was malicious or a deliberate attempt to rile her.

Ultear knew something she didn't but need information Erza had to put the final pieces together.

"Humour me, will you?"

Sighing in frustration, Erza eventually nodded as she had assumed that if not Ultear then the other guild masters would question on her history with Amaryllis. "Our job was to capture the criminal known as Gale Belserion although at the time neither Laxus or myself knew that the man we were hunting was actually a demon possessing a human host."

"Parzival Valravn correct?"

"Yes, another victim of the attack on Rosemary some years ago." Erza managed to add, her interaction with Parzival, or Percy as he preferred to be called, had been sort as his ability to repress the demon was limited and if was because of him she was still alive. Though she had not recognised him after the changes brought on by the demon, he knew her instantly – Percy's parents had taken her in at her father's request after he left one day never to return. Until the attack on Rosemary, Percy had been like a big brother to her. "He wrestled back control of his body long enough for us to slay the demon."

"And Parzival himself as a result?"

"We had no time to properly find out how to exorcise the demon," Erza said in shame; not being able to save Percy was perhaps one of her greatest failures. Only surpassed by Jellal. Why could she not save any of the men in her life? First, her father had disappeared when she was little, then Percy, then Jellal and then Percy again followed by Laxus who had been lost to the darkness within himself.

Eying the sleeping blonde out of the corner of her eye, a part of her hoped that maybe this time she could succeed were before she had failed.

"Again, though I find myself asking why Amaryllis? It was never clearly explained in the report." Ultear was not being subtle at this point as it was obvious what she wanted to know. Why she wanted to know so badly Erza had no idea, but it wasn't like she could do much with the information. The only reason they'd never told the Magic Council in the first place was that it seemed rather redundant when only Gale Belserion could have pulled off what he was planning.

"The demon was looking to harness the latent power of an approaching storm and create itself a true body."

"A true body?" Ultear repeated as her features seemed to narrow and her expression darkened.

"Gale Belserion was for all intents and purposes a demonic parasite," Erza explained as she looked to Laxus for a moment, wondering how he would feel that she was giving up this information so easily. "Without Parzival he was nothing, but with the power of the storm he could alter Parzival's body fully and become something closer to a true demon."

"An Etherious," Ultear said, but the way her brow crinkled after she spoke suggested that perhaps she hadn't meant to say that out loud, "an artificial demon, so to speak. The Magic Council has a list of such creatures although all, but a handful were created by the dark wizard Zeref centuries ago. I've personally never heard of something like this."

"So, Lullaby was an Etherious demon?"

"Yes, it was," Ultear nodded, "although the demon is once more a flute and in one of the Magic Council's secure vaults. It'll never see the light of day again I can assure you."

Erza felt no comfort at the assurance but bit her tongue. Mouthing off to a member of the Magic Council was not something any smart wizard should, let alone one in her position. Instead, Erza just took the silence to mean the conversation was at its end.

"There's one last thing I don't quite understand," Ultear said after a long pause and Erza just closed her eyes. "Why was the demon calling itself Gale Belserion? A rather strange name for a demon."

"The demon was one of several created by something it referred to as Mother," Erza said as she recalled the brief explanation Percy had given her during one of his moments of control over the monster inside of him. Even now the words troubled her, but she'd never dared to really dig into what they might mean. "The demons were named for their element and the name of the person they were created to kill."

"Who is Belserion? I've never heard of anyone in Ishgar who goes by such a name."

"Neither have I," Erza admitted, "but whoever she is Belserion believed we were related, and Percy explained that was why Belserion grew to be obsessed with me during our time in Amaryllis. The demon called me the witch's daughter."

"I see. Well," Ultear nodded and Erza took that to mean that this time the conversation really was over. Finally, "perhaps it would do your best to follow Laxus' example in this matter and rest. There won't be much time for that in the coming days."

"What do you plan on doing, Councilwoman?" Erza asked pointedly as Ultear stood. The dark-haired wizard looked back at her over her shoulder and whilst she smiled there was no warmth to it. Even the usually predatory hint was missing; something Erza had said had rattled Ultear.

"I'll be making a visit to the dining cart," Ultear said in a polite enough way that made Erza believe she was about to anything other than that, "would you like me to bring you something?"

"I believe I'll pass." Ultear nodded tightly and let herself out of the cabin before closing the door. Erza waited ten long seconds before she was sure the dark-haired woman was gone from earshot. "Something I said rattled her and I don't think it has anything to do with her position on the Magic Council."

"So, what do you want to do about it?" Laxus grunted in a surprisingly agreeable fashion. "We can't exactly do anything about her right now."

"Not whilst we don't have any proof." Erza pointed out because there was proof, whatever that woman was up to Erza was going to find out before she could bring any harm to Fairy Tail. Ultear had even been so kind as to give her a starting point – what happened in Amaryllis all those years ago was connected and when the redheaded knight figured out how she'd have the proof she needed.

* * *

Ultear Malkovich

What Erza had told her off Gale Belserion disturbed her more than she cared to admit. To think Erza Scarlet was connected to that _witch_ – her daughter no less - and she didn't even know it. No wonder her potential was so frighteningly high. But it helped her figure out some of what was going on – that bastard Jellal must've regained more control that she thought. Tartarus knew Zeref wasn't dead and yet they'd made a play for control of the R-System.

This wasn't about getting Erza away from Fairy Tail so they could capture her to power the R-System and supposedly revived the dark wizard as she'd originally led Jella to believe. This was about creating more Etherious. If modified correctly then the R-System would have enough power to create countless new artificial demons. Tartarus' numbers would skyrocket and if the Magic Council fell like it was supposed to in the original plan then no one would stand against them.

Taking a moment to focus, she used her magic to create a pure ball of ice that would function in much the same way her usual crystal ball did. It took longer to enchant than she would have liked but it was nothing she hadn't done before. When the spell was finished, she reached out with her mind and made contact as an image swam into existence on the surface of the ice.

"Lord Gaebolg," Ultear spoke into the ice ball with a forced niceness in case anyone overheard her as they came in and out of the dining cart as she spoke with the master of Grimoire Heart.

"Councilwoman Milkovich?" Hades' tone was one of displeasure, but he did not terminate the conversation immediately as he would often do if she was to contact him without notice. "To what do I owe the pleasure?"

"I recently came by some interesting news that I wished to keep you appraised of," she said before she informed the old man of her conversation with Jellal some days ago and his new allies. Then she told him off what he no doubt had planned for the R-System now, having figured it out based on what Erza had told her earlier. Of course, she didn't tell him how she'd pieced it together, or that Erza Scarlet was, in fact, Erza Belserion, daughter of the Scarlet Despair herself.

"So, what you mean to tell me is," Hades cut her off as she was getting to her conclusion, "is that Tartarus is nowhere nearly as inactive as you suggested, and they have robbed you of your puppet Jellal; who looks to use a modified version of the R-System to make himself an Etherious with that latent magic power the Magic Council will fire on him. Magic powerful enough that after your puppet makes himself a demon he'll have enough power left to create an army."

"If my deduction is correct," Ultear hissed as she looked around just in case there was some else around to overhear, "yes. But I can still stop the firing of the Etherion if I reveal Jellal to the rest of the Magic Council before he fully sets his plan into motion."

"You'll stop nothing," Hades said simply. "Jellal has completely outdone you - he's been playing you for the fool for some time now and you've just noticed. He's positioned so that you're heading towards your own execution where he will likely wipe out many esteemed guild masters with the help of one of Tartarus' sub-guilds and capture the Scarlet girl and erase the Magic Council all like he'd originally planned. In one motion Tartarus could make themselves all but unopposed. All because of your hubris."

"With all due respect, Master but–"

"But _nothing_." Hades cut her off before she could make a request to have some of the Seven Kin join her. "As inadvertent as it might have been, you created this mess. Now get yourself out of it. If you act alone with only the resources you have now I can play this whole incident off when everything is over and the dust settles. I will not be dragged into a war with Tartarus because of misinformation and the arrogance of a little girl who played too hard and loose."

"But if I act alone then Tartarus will–" Ultear panicked slightly – even if they went to war with Tartarus, they could win but they'd be crippled as a result. Hades would never take such a risk when his own plans were so close to coming to fruition.

"Destroy you." Hades finished for her and she could tell the man didn't care what happened to her at that point. Clearly, he thought she was replaceable. He'd regret the day he came to think that when all of this was said and done. "If you succeed then return and we will discuss your punishment for creating this mess in the first place. Fail and know you will die alone. It's that simple."

How _dare_ he. Ultear wanted to reach through the crystal ball and strangle him. Hades' image faded away before she could say anything though and she was once more alone in the abandoned dining cart.

For five minutes she sat there, fuming silently. Old bastard, she hissed as hundreds of possible solutions to her current situation came rushing to her, but none really seemed workable with what she had at her disposal. Jellal was operating on his own, Tartarus had joined the game much earlier than expected and if she didn't do something quickly, she was going to be made into a scapegoat.

At the rate things were going she'd be lucky to see September.

"Oh, sweet child," a low voice whispered in her ear as a clawed finger brushed against her cheek before there was a sudden pain in her side, "you're _already_ dead."


End file.
